By Lauren FitzPatrick
Staff writer
Douglas Wallace Baer Dralle caught the travel bug as a child, and it plagued him the rest of his life.
He took a fearless approach to high skies and watery depths alike, photographing many of those adventures through a scuba mask.
“He traveled with us a lot– we are vagabonds of that type,” said his father, Wallace Dralle.
“He was learning all the time,” added his mother, Sue Dralle.
Mr. Dralle had a special affinity for the water since he swam on youth swim teams and lifeguarded his way through college.
Mr. Dralle died Dec. 11, 2006, at age 35, of complications from diabetes. He went to sleep and simply never woke up, his parents said.
Immediate plans to visit a friend in Germany and helicopter over the Las Vegas strip were cut short, as was an exciting walk-on role in a new Vince Vaughn movie called “Fred Claus.”
But he crammed a lot of exciting adventures into his short life, including sky diving, scuba, rappelling and globetrotting.
“He had a lot of exploits,” his father said.
Born Oct. 17, 1971, at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Mr. Dralle grew up in Homewood, where he attended local schools, graduating from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in 1990.
His father was a history teacher and administrator; his mother also was a teacher in the Homewood school district.
He started college at Western Illinois University, where he was part of the college’s ROTC program, but an asthma condition cut his service short. He didn’t move on until he had learned to sharpshoot and rappel off school buildings, his mother said.
He even won a shooting award, his father added.
Mr. Dralle then transferred to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes after a weird incident where he fell asleep at the wheel.
“The car meandered off road, and hit a tree in a golf course, and (he) broke bones,” his dad said. “He moved around University of Illinois in a wheelchair, but he finished.”
Though the insulin dependence worried his family, Mr. Dralle held on fiercely to his freedom and moved up to Chicago to live on his own.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dralle had figured out he could make a living by traveling, so he used his leisure studies degree to work high-profile accounts for Chicago-based Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, scouting luxury hotel suites for the likes of John Travolta and the president of the New York stock exchange.
He’d quip to his parents that most of the rooms were bigger than his entire apartment, his father said.
“He was known to be very good with people, very charming, I think,” his father said.
Mr. Dralle never married.
But in his spare time on the road, he would check out local aquariums and knew lots of trivia about each one. As a seasoned swimmer and lifeguard, the water fascinated him. On vacation, he’d scuba dive with sharks off Catalina Island or swim with sea turtles in Hawaii.
“He used his photography in his travels a lot as well as for pleasure,” his mother said. “He loved to shoot the Blue Angels during the air show.”
He took his cameras underwater, too.
In Hawaii, he made an inaugural skydive, too.
“He had a multi-faceted personality,” his mother said. “He loved everything. He loved learning; he loved nature; and he loved people.”
Arrangements are by Tews Funeral Home, (708) 798-5300.
A memorial visitation will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, 18230 S. Dixie Highway, Homewood, followed by a funeral service.
Aside from his parents, Mr. Dralle also is survived by his younger sister, Ann; a nephew, Anthony; many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Memorial gifts may be made to St. Joseph Church in Homewood, the National Diabetic Associations, the Shedd Aquarium or any charity.
Lauren FitzPatrick may be reached at lfitzpatrick@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5964.
For some reason, I was thinking about Doug today, and decided to look him up on the web. Of course, I learned of his passing in 2006. Doug and I were on the varsity swimming team at H-F, and I remember him as a truly nice guy. He was one of those people you encounter that you’d like to reconnect with. At the time of his death, he and I lived only a few block from each other in Chicago. Knowledge of his passing leaves me sad, but as I’m sure he would wish, I’m looking at two very powerful and positive messages in this: 1. Live life to the fullest. 2. Never hesitate to reach out to old friends. Though several years too late, thanks Doug. You were a class act. Pete DeBolt