Douglas Lachlan MacRae passed away at home, peacefully in his wife’s arms on August 24, 2023, after he bravely finished his 4.5 year fight with glioblastoma (GBM) brain cancer. Doug was a force of nature. He remained positive and courageous to the end. With his good humour, as an artist, photographer, motorcycle racer and globetrotter, he was determined to live life to the fullest and said after his incurable diagnosis: "Life is amazing and a privilege so keep on trucking!"

Doug was born in Ottawa, raised in Guelph and moved to Toronto where he graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design. He launched his career during his studies with his long time collaboration with HMV Records. Doug painted large scale photo-realistic murals of musicians including Annie Lennox, U2, and Celine Dion, across their retail stores globally. His wanderlust was ignited with HMV flying Doug to paint in-person murals in New Zealand, New York city and across North America. He also painted murals and album cover designs for Canadian rock bands, Sony Music and for feature films. Doug was also commissioned to do classical oil paintings including 20-foot Pre-Raphaelite style paintings for the Liberty Grand. He won awards for Marketing magazine, CAPIC (Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators) and Lux.

He expanded his career in international travel photography and received commissioned work from various tourism boards, airlines and travel companies where he travelled to India, Peru, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy and France.

Doug raced motorcycles for 20 years, winning at Daytona, Mid-Ohio, Barber, Mosport and becoming a three time AMA Grand Vintage Racing Champion with his Norton race bike. His passion for racing evolved into photography with various editorial features in motorcycle magazines including the cover photo for Cycle World. Seventeen of his images are featured in TASCHEN’s Ultimate Collector Motorcycles coffee table book.

Despite being given only one year to live, he was motivated to fight this most lethal and terminal cancer. Less than 7% of glioblastoma patients worldwide survive after four years. He became an Ambassador for the Brain Cancer Canada charity and used his voice to raise awareness, and donated his art to help fundraise for brain cancer research.

Doug is survived by his family who loves him immeasurably: wife, Marie Anne; father, Malcolm; brother, Duncan; sisters, Heather and Karen; sister-in-law, Stephanie; brother-in-laws, Martin and Andrew; nephews, Connor and Thomas and niece, Emily.

His Celebration of Life service will take place on Saturday, September 9 at Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON M4T 2V8 with the visitation starting at 11:00 am and the service beginning at 12:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Doug’s Brain Cancer Canada fundraising page to fight for more effective options and innovative research: https://braincancercanada.akaraisin.com/ui/douglas_macrae