Gone too soon
BACK CREEK VALLEY - Mementos and dozens of family photos lie scattered on the dining room table, a visual testimony to the late Douglas Sterling Copenhaver.
They show happier times of an always smiling, growing young man - first as a newborn with his favorite stuffed tiger, later as a boy dressed in a jack-o-lantern costume for Halloween, and more recently as he had fun around the house with his older sister Ashley.
Today, memories are more important than ever for his family after Douglas suddenly died Friday night. The SUV he was driving struck a pole off Edwin Miller Boulevard in Martinsburg following a traffic stop by county deputies.
Still stunned by the loss of their only son, Berkeley County Councilman Doug Copenhaver and his wife Jackie smile through tears as they talk about his life - and the lives he touched. But they also want to talk about the addiction problems he faced and how his death can help save others.
A friendly person, Douglas especially loved friends and pets. He was extra loyal to family members - including the many cousins who always found a playmate when he was around. He was still close with his best friend from kindergarten, William Roberts, while co-workers also quickly became friends and often spent afterhours with him, his father said.
"He was the kind of person who always said 'I love you' when he left or hung up the phone. ... And it didn't even matter what kind of discussion we might have had - he still wanted you to know how much he loved you. That's just how he was - a loving soul but also mixed up in certain regards," Doug Copenhaver said.
Even as a young child Douglas would write about his family. "I love my family and my cat and my mom and my dad" are words that were framed by a red-crayon-colored heart as part of some second-grade classwork.
Another drawing, complete with a pencil rendering of himself and his father, was signed, "From your loved son."
His parents said Douglas was hard on himself, even as a youngster when he would rise and study for hours before a spelling test because he felt it was so important to do his best. Anything less was unacceptable because it might mean disappointing others, his father recalled.
Looking back, it may have been a clue about the future, because Douglas eventually battled depression and became distraught about his inability to beat his addiction problems, Doug Copenhaver said. On more than one occasion, Douglas said he didn't like abusing drugs but didn't know how to stop.
Slept With Him Too Soon - News
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