Traverse City Record-Eagle

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Life In Focus: A photographer's journey

EDITORS NOTE: Record-Eagle photojournalist Doug Tesner was sick, badly so. A lifelong smoker, Tesner, 64, battled lung cancer that spread to his lymph nodes. His outlook was bleak, and he was in Munson Medical Center for treatment. Tesner and his wife, Peggy, agreed to allow Record-Eagle reporter Lindsay VanHulle and photojournalist Jan-Michael Stump to follow their journey, document his life and examine an illness that each year claims about 160,000 lives in this country.

"Patient awaits cancer's toll" is the first in this series. Other articles:

Related Photos

  • U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. Jonathan Bush, center, salutes as the American Flag is unfurled above the remains of Navy Veteran and Record-Eagle photographer Doug Tesner during the Arlington National Cemetery graveside memorial service.

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  • At Arlington Memorial Cemetery graveside services for Navy Veteran and Record-Eagle photographer Doug Tesner, family members stand during the playing of taps as the American Flag is outstretched over Tesner's remains. Left to right: Patrick Tesner, Doug's son; Craig MacAllister, Doug's brother in-law; Peggy Tesner, Doug's widow; and Tom Wilke, Doug's nephew.

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  • Members of the Navy Honor Guard fire one of three volleys during Arlington National Cemetery graveside services for Navy Veteran and Record-Eagle photographer Doug Tesner.

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  • Members of the Navy Honor Guard place Doug Tesner's remains and ceremonial flag at graveside for memorial services.

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August 29, 2010

Family, country honor Tesner at Arlington

By Lindsay VanHulle lvanhulle@record-eagle.com

ARLINGTON, Va. — Peggy Tesner has cried every day since her husband died two months ago.

It’s the little things that get her, like the day she drove to Sam’s Club to close Doug Tesner’s account and remembered they always shopped there together. Or the time she had cataract surgery and the medical staff brought her a blanket. Doug had asked for a blanket when he was in the hospital.

But on a warm Friday morning, at a spot between trees in Arlington National Cemetery, the ceremonial guard stretched an American flag above Doug’s urn and Peggy started to smile.

“Yeah, this is right,” she said. “I think he would have been very happy with it.”

It was what he wanted.

Doug Tesner, a former Record-Eagle photographer and Navy veteran, died of lung cancer June 29 at age 64. Burial at Arlington was the last piece of his official farewell.

Peggy was surrounded by family and friends, including her sisters and children; Doug’s son, Patrick; and his niece and nephew, Nancy and Bob Taylor.

The short graveside service included remarks from a chaplain, a rifle salute and a bugler playing taps. The ceremonial guard presented Peggy with the flag. He smiled and whispered, “You’re welcome,” after she accepted it.

A headstone should appear in a couple of months, Peggy said. At Thanksgiving, she plans to return to the Washington, D.C., area to visit family.

It has been a difficult two months for Peggy as she adjusted to life without her husband. She had to transfer bills in Doug’s name to her own. She donated his clothes. She has had a real estate agent look at putting up her East Bay Township house for rent.

“That house is our house,” Peggy said later, at a family gathering at her sister’s home in Virginia. “Without him there, it’s not a home.”

She learned something new when she received a copy of his military discharge papers — Doug Tesner had received four Bronze Star medals during his service in the Vietnam war era.

“He never talked about it,” Peggy said, her voice lowering to a near-whisper. “I didn’t know.”

One thing never in question was the pride he had in his Navy service. An Arlington burial, to him, was the only fitting ending.

Not only that, but it brought a sense of peace to family members.

“It was nice to finally lay him to rest,” said Patrick Tesner, who on Friday said he hadn’t smoked in two days. Doug was a smoker for most of his life, and doctors said it was a likely cause of his cancer.

“I’m definitely my father’s son, from the amount of coffee I drink to his attitude and temperament,” Patrick said. “He was the type of person that I always admired.”

 

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