Douglas G. Phinney

Douglas G. Phinney, 72, of Ventura, passed away Thursday, October 30, 2025, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.

A memorial service will be held at 1: 30 p.m., Friday, November 7, 2025, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner with Rev. Scott Kozisek officiating. Inurnment will be at the Clear Lake Cemetery.

A memorial visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner and will resume one hour prior to services at the church on Friday.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Ventura Fire Department.

Douglas George Phinney, the son of George and Elaine (Harrington) Phinney, was born October 29, 1953, in Vermillion, South Dakota. At an early age, he moved to Clear Lake with his family and graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1972. He continued his education at NIACC in Mason City and worked at Easter’s Super Valu Grocery Store in Clear Lake and later in Oskaloosa. On June 10, 1978, he married Leeza Knop at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner. They lived in Clear Lake and Ventura area where they raised their two sons, Justin and Brandon. After Easters, Doug was a manager at County Market grocery store in Mason City. After County Market, he was employed at Eatons in Belmond as a machine operator for 11 years. While working at Eatons, his passion for EMS began. During this time, he joined the Garner Volunteer Ambulance Service. This led to working for Snell's in Mason City along with Eatons and continuing his EMS education along the way. He was proud of being one of 13 of the new hires for Clear Lake Fire and Rescue as a paramedic. After his wife, Leeza, passed away unexpectedly in 2016, he continued to live in Ventura and work as a paramedic until retiring in 2019 after 13 years of service to Clear Lake Fire and Rescue. Doug reconnected with a special friend he met earlier in his life, while working in Oskaloosa, Betty Jane Moore. They were blessed with the past five years together. Doug enjoyed photography, quilting, traveling, cooking, decorating for Christmas and attending air shows in Oshkosh, WI.

He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner and a past member of the Ventura Fire Department.

Doug is survived by his two sons, Brandon Phinney of Klemme and Justin Phinney of Mason City; his loving companion, Betty Jane Moore of Ventura; two brothers, Dean (Teresa) Phinney of North Liberty and Don (Sue) Phinney of Clear Lake; nieces, nephews and cousins.