Alex Paul
Aircraft mechanic, firefighter, medic, newspaper report…
Doug DeMille has a broad range of jobs listed on his resume’ but the one that has brought DeMille and his wife, Kathleen, to Sweet Home is that of pastor.
He takes over the pastorship of the Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, replacing retired pastor B.J. Ellington. The church is located on Pleasant Valley Road and serves about 75 members.
DeMille said he was considering moving back to Arkansas from Omak, Wash. where he served a church for three years.
The DeMilles visited Sweet Home last summer during a church conference.
“When we came through Lebanon and then Sweet Home, we felt at home, like it is a real community,” Kathleen said. “We knew this was where we belonged.”
For both DeMilles, community is important. Doug was reared in an Army family and Kathleen in a Navy family. Both moved frequently while growing up.
Doug continued that tradition spending 14 years in the Army after graduating from high school in Blissfield, Mich. in 1979. His Army stint included duty in the first Gulf War and in Bosnia.
“It’s when I came back from Bosnia that the Lord had been working hard on me to surrender to preach,” DeMille said.
That was in 1996.
DeMille began working at a factory that builds parts for aircraft and was advancing rapidly when he made a major decision to accept God’s call to the ministry.
“I’ve never looked back,” DeMille said. “We went from relying on money to relying on God.”
He and Kathleen moved to Greenpond, Texas for his first pastorship which lasted 14 months and then to Omak, Wash.
“We hope that Sweet Home is where we will stay for another 30 years,” Kathleen said.
While living in Arkansas, DeMille tried his hand at writing sports for the local weekly newspaper and carried that over to a small daily during his tenure in Texas.
He also referees basketball and baseball and says his family loves sports.
The DeMille family includes Dennis, 23, serving in the Air Force, Nathanuil, 21, a student at the University of Arkansas and DaJon, 18, a senior at SHHS.
The DeMilles are impressed by the friendliness of Sweet Home.
“We don’t know anyone and yet, everywhere we go, people say hello,” Kathleen said. “It’s wonderful.”
In addition to supporting her family’s love of sporting events, Kathleen also enjoys singing, acting and arts and crafts.
“Our house is filled with arts and crafts,” her husband said with a laugh.