Above: Dick Doumeng
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The Caribbean is mourning the loss of Dick Doumeng, the owner of the Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St Thomas, who passed away earlier this week.
Doumeng, who was 78, passed away from natural causes due to pulmonary fibrosis.
He became the owner of the Bolongo Bay in 1974, turning it from a 37-room property to its current slate of 72 rooms.
He served six times as the president of the St Thomas/St John Hotel Association.
Doumeng, who also founded the St Thomas Dive Club, the island’s largest diving company, was a former Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Hotelier of the Year, and longtime CHTA board member.
His son, Richard Doumeng, a Caribbean Journal contributor, is the current president of the CHTA and Managing Director of the Bolongo Bay.