Obituary of Doyle Little
Doyle Edgar Little passed away in his home, surrounded by his family, on March 11, 2018. His memorial service will be March 24 at 2 PM at Memorial Park Chapel, 8525 Mid Cities Blvd. in North Richland Hills. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Patricia Kolb Little, his daughters, Sheri DeSpain and husband Keith, Jan Wilson, Susan Marx and husband Larry, granddaughters, Kristi Meadows and husband Matt, Lisa Adams and husband Jared, Grace, Eva and Rebecca Marx, great-grandsons Tyler, Mason and Wyatt Meadows, brother Ernest Little, aunts Mary Beth and Bobbie Strickland, other beloved family Xiao Qing, Keary, Evan and Daniel Liu, nieces, nephews and many friends.
Doyle was born on a small farm in the community of Wood Glen outside of Henderson, Texas on February 12, 1936 to W.A. and Eva Jo Little. He believed in hard work and fun and was valedictorian of his high school class and captain of the football team. He went on to earn two degrees in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He had a varied career that included being part of the team that created polypropylene at Eastman Kodak, and a design innovator in hydraulic fracturing at the Western Company of North America. His success at Western led to his position of CEO of OPI Ltd., an international conglomerate of companies. In his spare time, he co-founded Medical Images, a company that developed a computer method to detect breast cancer cells. There were other projects and other successes, but he was defined by his love of life and family.
Doyle was always in motion. He would rarely sit down to eat. He loved to ski, to hike and to travel. He was an extrovert, who never met a stranger and wanted everyone to be comfortable and included. He was a man of honor, who put others interests above his own. He was a servant who was never too busy to help a friend with a project, a community volunteer and a political activist. He was a Christian who was called to action. All the love he poured forth was reflected back to him. He commented that he never felt he was dying alone.
The family would like to thank all the caregivers that have helped him on the journey home. Go Rest High Upon the Mountain.
