Obituary of Douglas Haffner

After a long battle with cancer Douglas Haffner passed away, surrounded by his family, on June 8, 2026, at Windsor Regional Hospital at the age of 78.

Doug leaves behind his beloved wife Margaret, his two sons Simon and Carl (Leslie), and grandchildren Garret, Kaylee and Clark. He will also be missed by his sisters Cathy Regis and Cyn Smith (Rob). He was predeceased by his sister Susan Duncan.

Doug completed his BSc degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, followed by his PhD at Royal Holloway College, University of London. 

He was Emeritus Professor at University of Windsor.  While at the University he was one of the Co-founders, and the inaugural director, of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research.  He consulted with the governments of China and Indonesia regarding water usage and quality. He was also an active and adventurous traveller having been on all seven continents.

An avid card player he could always be counted on to be up for a game. Euchre, bunt and crib were his favourites.  If there was nobody to play cards with, he could be found either playing guitar or woodcarving.

He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues and students for his ability to fill a room with his humour, intelligence and warmth.

Cremation has taken place. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 11th, 2026 from 1:30pm until 4:30pm at Signature Tributes Event Centre (3310 Dougall Ave., Windsor, ON, 519-419-5660)

If you wish to donate, donations may be made to either the Citizens Environmental Alliance

(https://sites.google.com/view/citizens-environment-alliance/home)

or the John McGivney Children’s Centre.

https://jmccentre.ca/