John Lewis Douglas, 75, finished a deliriously happy life on September 3, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born in 1950 to the late Charles Lewis Douglas, Jr. and Bettye Lee Phelps Douglas. John grew up in New Orleans, La., and Jackson, Miss., before moving to Atlanta in 1963. A gifted student and athlete, John took every opportunity to play baseball and golf with his friends and with his dad. After graduating from Lakeside High School John attended Davidson College, and ran into a force of nature by the name of Rebecca Ann Peterson.
John was baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 20. After graduating from Davidson in 1972, he served a two-year mission for the church in Ecuador. John and Becky married in Salt Lake City in 1974, and were devoted to each other for the next 52 years, as seven children and three more adopted children joined them. He was always dazzled by her, always happier around her, and said, like the poem, that she was the Sunday in every week.
He was widely regarded as one of the world’s leading financial services lawyers. He began with a J.D. from the University of Georgia and at the Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird. Ronald Reagan appointed him General Counsel of the FDIC in 1987, where he helped steer the FDIC through the savings and loan crisis and shape the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. Later, through his work with the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, he led efforts to reform banking across the developing world with the goal of creating more open, trust-based economies. John was senior partner at the law firms of Alston & Bird, Paul Hastings, and Davis, Polk & Wardwell, and finished his career as Chief Legal, Risk and Compliance Officer at TIAA, a financial services firm in New York.
He took a break from his career to serve his church for three years as a mission president in the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission. He was awed by the faith and goodness of the hundreds of missionaries in his care. He was devoted to strengthening them, their families and communities, and the church. He loved using Spanish to express tender feelings or speak beautiful truths.
Both at home and abroad, John cared deeply for the less fortunate. His commitment to the Dominican Republic continued after his mission, when he and Becky created the Dominican American Education Fund, an after-school training program in English and computer skills. They also generously funded and worked tirelessly for Rising Star Outreach, an organization Becky created to provide education, medical care, and community development to leprosy-affected people in India. John loved teaching young people at the University of Georgia Law School and continued to hold his classes during his battles with leukemia and lymphoma, sometimes via Zoom while receiving chemotherapy.
More than anything, John was happy everywhere. His biking and hiking trips with family and friends were his favorite way to travel the world. He was always up for another adventure that would let him marvel at the beauty of God’s creation. Everywhere he went, he was followed by an uncanny streak of good luck, finding fresh powder, sunny skies, and rooms full of welcoming, interesting people. It was impossible not to love this kind-hearted and sharp-witted gentleman, whether in a dark suit or his favorite hiking pants and Tevas. Sundays were always reserved for boisterous meals with family and friends. He was profoundly grateful, whether he got a glorious Georgia morning when he could ride his bike, play racquetball, and walk through the woods, or he got a quiet twilight on the back porch with Becky.
John is preceded in death by his daughter Amber and granddaughter Madison, and celebrated here by his wife Becky, his siblings Lee Douglas, Leslie Hurst, Lynne Miller, and Margaret Hamilton; his children Dianna, Jay, Scott, Chip, Alex, Michael, Jolanta, Esther Racioppo, and Thomas; their spouses David Burk, Angie, Caroline, Renita, Celeste, Hannah Dalia, and Arrius Racioppo; and 24 grandchildren.
Open House from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept 10 at Crowell Brothers Funeral Home, 5051 Peachtree Blvd, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092. Funeral services Friday, September 11 at 10 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5995 Spalding Dr, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092.
In lieu of flowers, please direct any giving in John’s memory to Rising Star Outreach, in honor of his commitment to humankind and his abiding love for his wife.