G. Douglas Straton was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to John Roach Straton and Georgia Hillyer Straton. He married Ruth Isabelle Riley in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 12, 1943.

A former resident of New York City, NY; Pella, Iowa; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, Dr. Straton came to Eugene, Oregon in 1959. He served as Chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon from 1959-1973, and continued to teach there until his retirement in 1986. A graduate in Harvard University's class of 1938, he also earned a Bachelor of Divinity from Andover- Newton Theological School in 1941, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1950. As an Army chaplain in World War II, he brought comfort and guidance to soldiers on the front lines of the Battle of the Bulge in Germany. He was subsequently awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service. As stated in the accompanying commendation: "Chaplain Straton frequently made his way to dispersed platoons and performed religious services, despite intermittent enemy fire, at all times placing his duty above personal safety."

Straton was the author of numerous articles and books, including Theistic Faith for our Time (1979; 2nd printing, 1981). Profoundly spiritual in orientation, Dr. Straton was also a man of science. He fervently believed that evolution was among the Creator's greatest miracles.

In 1984, Dr. Straton received an American Civil Liberties Union award for his role as a plaintiff in the original Skinner's Butte cross lawsuit. He held all faiths in high esteem, and felt the cross on public land was both illegal and exclusionary.

In retirement, he kept his questioning mind sharp by reading avidly about the world and all its people--politics, religion, economic and cultural change. Always, he maintained faith in humanity's inherent goodness.

From an obituary composed by the family, included in the collection.