Douglas George Bixby

Douglas G. Bixby, 78, of Delavan and formerly Black River Falls, passed away on November 27, 2021, at Mercy Javon Bea Hospital in Rockford, Illinois following complications from heart surgery. Douglas was born February 5, 1943 to parents George "Royal" Bixby and Marjorie A. (Hadden) Bixby of South Wayne, WI. Douglas is survived by his three children, William Bixby of Delavan, WI, Melissa Bixby of Bartlett, TN, and Theodore Bixby of Rural Retreat, VA. Douglas is additionally survived by his sister Joanne (Stephen) Strommen of Glendale, WI, nephew Alexander Strommen of Norwalk, CT and multiple cousins. Douglas was preceded in death by his parents as well as his former wife Patricia L. (Walsh) Bixby. Doug was born while his father was serving over seas in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII and was 3 yrs old before he first met his father. He grew up in South Wayne, WI with his parents and at the age of 12 became a big brother to Joanne. He learned his carpentry skills from watching and working with his father and his love of nature and animals from both of his parents. Doug was a graduate of South Wayne High School and went on to earn his PhD in food chemistry with a minor of chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He was a member of the Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity and worked for Quaker Oats in Barrington, IL while completing his PhD. There he developed perhaps his most widely known food product of his career, Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal. This led to his nickname of Dr. Crunch later on in his career. His professional career led him to companies such as Miles Laboratories in Worthington, OH, Universal Foods in Milwaukee, WI, Fisher Cheese Company in Wapakoneta, OH, Kraft Food Ingredients in Memphis, TN and finally Century Foods International in Sparta, WI. After his retirement from the profession of food science, Doug became an employee of Walmart in Black River Falls, WI. Doug began a hobby of bicycling in the mid 1980's and that hobby eventually evolved to him becoming an avid long distance cyclist for many years. He was a member of the Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club in Memphis, TN and was very involved in mapping the MS 150 ride for the area. He continued to cycle even after leaving the Memphis area and was known to be out for 8 to 10 hrs daily on the weekends cycling in the WI countryside. Doug was a generous, kind, humble man and taught his three children these qualities by example. He will be greatly missed by family, friends and co-workers alike. A memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2021 from 1-3p.m. at thew FUNERAL HOME (118 S. 2nd St, Delavan). Lazarczyk Family Funeral Homes, Betzer Chapel of Delavan, WI is proudly serving the family. Service Details. Visitation When Saturday, December 4th, 2021 1:00pm - 3:00pm Location Lazarczyk Family Funeral Homes - Delavan Chapel Address 118 South 2nd Street DELAVAN, WI 53115