Abuse survivor and advocate Mark Douglass dies at age 70

Mark Douglass spoke out about surviving childhood sexual abuse in 1984, when adult victims — especially men — rarely came forward and time limits made it extremely difficult to seek justice.

In doing so, the Minneapolis lawyer became one of the first male survivors of childhood abuse in the country to successfully sue for damages. He also became an advocate who fought to change Minnesota's statutes of limitations in cases of childhood abuse.

"I really felt this man needed to be dealt with in a legal way. I chose to use the system I believe in," Douglass told the Star Tribune in 1988, after a groundbreaking verdict awarded him $1.27 million in damages in his suit against a family friend who began abusing him when he was 12.

In 1989, thanks in part to his advocacy, Minnesota passed a "delayed discovery" law, allowing adult survivors to sue for six years after becoming aware of past abuse. The Minnesota Child Victims Act went further in 2013.

"He went to the Legislature and said, 'We need to change this,' " said his wife, Ann Norrlander. "He would go by the letter of the law. He was very thorough, and he was very honest."

Douglass, who died on June 21 at age 70, was a caring, involved father of two as well as an outspoken advocate, his family said.

"I got the sense that raising a family was his primary purpose and source of fulfillment in life," said daughter Sarah Douglass. "Dad would want to be remembered as someone who was passionate about 'doing things right' and 'doing things differently.' "

Born and raised in Minneapolis, he attended West High School before going to college at Harvard University. He returned to the Twin Cities to attend law school at Hamline University, then practiced real estate and probate law.

He loved to make connections and learn about people. "His personal rule was that conversations with strangers are best when they go far deeper than weather and baseball," said his daughter.

"Family lore says that after Mom and Dad's first dinner date, Mom told her sister, 'Boy, did I go out with a turkey tonight!' Dad had asked Mom about everything there was to ask, and Mom knew nothing of Dad."

Still, that date led to many more. Before he died, Douglass and Norrlander celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

In 2004, Douglass was on a trip to Amsterdam with his daughter when they witnessed an armed kidnapping. While they were unharmed, the traumatic event led Douglass to seek therapy and "led to the healing of very old wounds in me," he wrote in a self-help memoir published several years later, called "Flashbacks of Abuse."

He also created a unique orchard in the backyard of their southwest Minneapolis home.

"He would research everything. So, our apple trees are none of the ordinary apples," Norrlander said.