Douglas Emery and his wife Iris moved to Sun Lakes Country Club just over two years ago, after relocating from the Princeton, New Jersey area. Iris and Doug were both born and raised in Toronto, Canada.
Doug went to a STEM/CTE high school and then graduated from a local college with an Associate's degree in HVACR/Mechanical Technologies in 1978. After college he worked in various HVAC, refrigeration, and natural gas industry jobs before joining Siemens Building Technologies in 1980 in Toronto. He spent 16 years there in roles spanning Sales, Technician, Engineering, Project Manager, and eventually Service Manager.
In early 1986, Doug met Iris after he placed a "Companions Wanted" ad in the local newspaper (long before online dating). They were married and settled in the Toronto suburbs in 1987. Their son Jimmy was born in 1989; Richard, in 1991.
In 1996, Doug received a promotion from Siemens Corporate outside Chicago to become Director of North American Service, with a complete paid family relocation and paid legal immigration services. Doug spent 11 years with Siemens traveling across North America, leading and supporting the field service organization.
While living in Chicago, their younger son Richard was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) in his esophagus at the age of seven. After surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, the cancer was treated, with some long-term side effects. The Make-A-Wish Foundation paid for a family trip to San Francisco to visit George Lucas and Industrial Light & Magic film studios. Because of this, Doug and Iris have volunteered with Make-A-Wish for over 20 years; Iris became a registered Foundation Speaker.
After 11 years with Siemens in Chicago, Doug and his family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked with Johnson Controls/YORK as Service General Manager. Five years later they moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where he became Construction Manager for a Trane franchise for four years. While in Delaware, Iris traveled to Washington DC and spoke on the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the Pentagon, Department of Intelligence, Department of Agriculture, Maryland Police, Baltimore Transit, and other agencies.
After a move and a one-year job in Baltimore, MD, Doug and Iris moved near Princeton, NJ, where Doug worked as Service Manager for a Schneider Electric franchise office for seven years.
After close to 50 years in the commercial HVAC and energy management industry in various leadership positions, Doug retired in late 2024. Iris and Doug decided to retire to Southern California, relatively near their younger son Richard (a cancer survivor) who has lived in Highland Park near Pasadena for seven years — Richard is an independent musician and music producer. Their oldest son Jimmy is a software engineering leader living in Medellín, Colombia.
Doug and Iris have been involved with non-denominational Christian churches as they've moved around — helping with youth camps, mission trips, church start-ups, and ministry leadership. Iris is still working: first at the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, and now with the Palm Springs Convention Center, recently promoted to Sales Contract Manager.
In early 2025, Doug was looking for community service organizations to help fill his retirement time between golf rounds and home repairs. He heard about Rotary and joined the Beaumont–Cherry Valley Rotary Club two years ago, after "crashing" a Club Board Meeting. Six months later, he was made President. While at Rotary, member Diana Mangan recommended Doug as a good candidate to take on the Program Manager role at the 50-year Laura May Stewart Foundation, replacing Jan Wages, who was retiring.
Doug, who didn't know anything about Rotary when he joined, is impressed with the organization and its history and purpose of giving back to the local and global community. But he is really impressed by the passion, dedication, support, caring, and fun nature of all the members of the Beaumont–Cherry Valley Rotary Club. He appreciates the trust of the club to be nominated as President for two years — he has made new friends and feels right at home as another "character" in the club.
