Doug Dawkins passes away in his sleep at 46

The close-knit Wellington Brewery family is reeling after the loss of its leader.

Company president and co-owner Doug Dawkins died suddenly in his sleep Saturday morning from a massive heart attack. He was 46.

“He will be terribly, terribly missed. We lost a good one way too young,” said Mr. Dawkins’ longtime friend and Wellington Brewery co-owner Brent Davies.

“We’re like a family out here. It was extremely difficult to tell everyone what had happened on Saturday,” Davies said.

Mr. Dawkins, a Guelph native who attended Centennial high school and McMaster University, started working at Wellington Brewery in the production end of things in 1990. He was eventually involved in purchasing the Woodlawn Road business from founder Phil Gosling in 2000.

In 2010 Mr. Dawkins brought his friend Davies in as a fellow majority owner. Mr. Dawkins had the role of president, focusing on production, while Davies was vice-president focusing on sales.

“This is a family place. We all pitch in when it’s needed, doesn’t matter what the job is. We’re very close,” Davies said. "Doesn't matter if it's an order that needs packaging or whatever. We all do what we have to."

Davies and Mr. Dawkins had been friends since they were 15.

He said Mr. Dawkins once saved his life many years ago when they were working at a paint manufacturer. Mr. Dawkins discovered Davies and another co-worker passed out in a chemical vat, overcome by fumes. He ran and got help, saving the pair's lives.

“Doug was just a laid back guy and a very hard worker. The kind of guy that could fix anything,” Davies said.

He said he was a reserved, quiet and shy person who loved fishing.

“We’re going to keep going,” Davies said of the growing brewery. “We had a vision and we’re going to see that through.”

Mr. Dawkins is survived by his two sons and his friend Roxanne Bevan and her son .

Friends will be received at Gilbert MacIntyre and Son Funeral Home’s Hart Chapel on Friday from noon until 2 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m.

As expressions of sympathy, family is asking that donations be made to the Children’s Foundation of Guelph Wellington; Heart and Stroke Foundation or the charity of one’s choice.