Dr. James Davis Douglass

On Monday January 31, 2022, Dr. James Davis Douglass Jr., husband, father and provider of dental care and services to the city of Fayetteville passed away at the age of 80.

Dr. James D. Douglass was born on February 16, 1941 in Greensboro, NC to Dr. James Davis Douglass I and Mabel Douglass. Dr. James D. Douglass Sr. relocated the family to Fayetteville to capitalize on the emergent population of black working class citizens whose proximity to Fort Bragg would be of socioeconomic benefit. Dr. James Douglass Sr. would build his practice on Person St. and in the words of one of the patrons who has recently visited the present Douglass Family Dentistry office on Wall St. in Fayetteville, Dr. Douglass Sr. was known as a "legend". He was prolific in his efforts to provide dental services to those of the black community who were destitute and underprivileged at a time when there were only a handful of black dentists.

Growing up prodigally in Fayetteville after his family's exodus from Greensboro, James D. Douglass Jr. himself graduated from E.E. Smith High School. Motivated by an interest to follow in the footsteps of his highly educated and successful forefathers, as not only was his father a dentist, but his grandfather, Dr. Robert L. Douglass, was the dean of mathematics at Johnson C. Smith University. James attended Hampton Institute where he got a degree in Biology and then went on to follow directly in his father's footsteps by studying the dental profession at Meharry Medical School of Dentistry.

James would return to Meharry upon graduating to accept a position as a professor in the school of Dentistry. It would not take long from there for Dr. James Douglass Jr. to display his preeminence in the art dental surgery. In 1973 he was appointed as Director of a government funded program know as the Dental Auxiliary Utilization, the mission of which was to teach a more coadunate and amicable partnership between the dentist and their dental assistants. From there, his star would only continue to rise. In 1975 Dr. James Douglass Jr. won the Marc Research Training Fellowship that would allow him to attend the University of Michigan's Horace Rockham School of Graduate Studies, where he would be awarded a Post Doctoral Degree in Restorative Dentistry. The same year he received this degree, he would also be welcomed as a member of the University of Michigan's instructor staff.

It would not be until 1984 that Dr. James Douglass Jr. would vacate his position as an instructor at the University of Michigan and make the move back to Fayetteville where he would assume his father's position as head of the dentistry established on Moore Street. From there, he would carry on the family tradition of serving the community with affordable and quality dentistry until his retirement. His position has since been assumed by his eldest son, a Navy veteran and also an astounding dentist in his own right, Dr. James Davis Douglass III.

Dr. James Davis Douglass Jr. is survived not only by his decades long legacy of academic achievement, professionalism and service to the community, but also by his wonderful wife and office manager, Bernice Douglass, their six children, James III, Kim, Joy, Bernard, Quinta, Jason and nine grandchildren, James IV, Pamela, Cynthia, Ammon, Merlin, Jaylin, Justin, Connor and Kayla.

A Memorial for Dr. Douglass, Jr. will be held at a later date, to be announced.

In Lieu of Flowers, the Family asks that all donations be made to The American Heart Association or The American Diabetes Association.

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