M. Douglas Twibell

funeral director and former owner, Mills & Mills Funeral Directors, Olympia, Washington, and Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home, Aberdeen, Washington, as well as a Washington State Funeral Directors Association past president, died July 5, 2025, at age 84.

Twibell graduated from the California College of Mortuary Science. He then worked for Mills & Mills Funeral Directors and purchased the company in 1980. Through acquisitions over the next years, the company grew to include 19 other funeral homes and cemeteries in Washington, Oregon and California. In 1994, Twibell purchased Fern Hill Funeral Home, which he sold to his son in 2019. However, he continued helping with services and taking care of the lawns at Fern Hill Funeral Home.

 Twibell was honored as the Washington Funeral Director of the Year in 2005 and, in 2022, was given a lifetime achievement award for his many years of service to grieving families. He was a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Aberdeen, and he recently received the Aberdeen Rotary Lifetime Achievement Award. He maintained 55 years of perfect attendance. Twibell was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, as well as a 50-year member and past master of Harmony Lodge, Tumwater, among other organizations.

Twibell is survived by wife Janice Shipman-Twibell, sons Keith and Paul, stepdaughter Angie Shipman, stepson James Shipman, five grandchildren, and a great-grandson. Twibell was preceded in death by his first wife, Barbara J. Twibell.