Round Rock Pilot ’Never Had to Gave Up His Wings’ Before Coronavirus Death

Doug Yarbrough never met a stranger. He was the kind of person that could meet someone for the first time and become their best friend in just minutes.

"And if you were a stranger, you weren't going to stay that way for long," Cody Yarbrough said of his father, Doug. "Even just meeting someone he was able to get people to open up so quickly."

A father, a husband and a native of Louisiana, Yarbrough called Round Rock home after moving to the area with his wife, Sheri, about five years ago.

Family and friends remember him as a man that would "talk your head off."

"It didn't matter if you were standing in line, he could talk to you on whatever subject you wanted to," Cody said. "He could just talk and talk."

Yarbrough on March 24 became the first Williamson County resident to die after contracting the coronavirus. As of Wednesday, at least 58 Texans have died from COVID-19, the disease linked to the virus.

He was just a few weeks past his 65th birthday when he was diagnosed with COVID-19. It came as a shock, Cody said, because his father was in great health and had recently passed his Federal Aviation Administration flight physical.

"He was so healthy that the FAA deemed him healthy enough to fly an aircraft," Cody said. "All our entire lives we knew him to be healthy as an ox and he was never really sick, nothing until this."

Doug and Sheri Yarborugh were married for about 31 years after meeting in Lafayette, La. Cody said his father personified the spirit of New Orleans and Louisiana because he was so proud of where he came from.

He spent 40 years as a corporate pilot, flying private jets all over the world. He also spent one year as a private contractor for the military as a pilot in Afghanistan.

The family believes Yarbrough contracted the virus while piloting a recent flight. And even though his passion for flying might have led to his illness, Cody said his father lived his dream his up until the end.

"He traveled the world and didn't have to worry about retiring," Cody said. "He always wanted to be a pilot and he was. He never had to give up his wings."

It was during his time as a pilot that he met Miles Turner, who found a mentor in Yarbrough. Turner, who was just starting his flying career when they met, said he spent his 20th birthday with Yarbrough, flying a jet for the first time. The two flew to Wyoming and back.

Turner, now 23, said he and Yarbrough did a few other flights together and that is what shaped his decision to fly private jets.

"I was already on track to fly for a living, but he definitely opened my eyes to other opportunities and how much fun it could be to fly private jets," Turner said.

He remembers Doug as being a great guy who always had a good story, great advice and always wanted to help.

"He was an amazing guy and very giving and always wanting to help everyone else," Turner said. "He hated sitting at home not doing anything. He'd clean his Mustang, his truck and his airplane and we went out (to the airport) one day and he'd spent two to three days cleaning someone else's jet for them because he liked doing it and it made him happy and he was just that kind of guy. He will be missed."

Cody said football season was always fun and something he will miss about his father. Yarbrough was a graduate of Louisiana Tech but he loved to cheer on the Texas A&M Aggies and the University of Texas Longhorns on Saturdays. Yarbrough was not a Louisiana State University fan, even though Cody and his sister, Kaitlin, were. But the one thing they could agree on was cheering on the New Orleans Saints on Sundays.

"We could agree on Saints stuff but he loved when LSU faltered," Cody said with a laugh. "He didn't really have much of a leg to stand on this year through because LSU buzz-sawed through everyone."

Donations are being accepted to help the Yarbrough family and can be made on a GoFundMe page set up in Doug's honor.

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