Some mornings Tony Douthitt, 53, wakes at 3 a.m. to his mother asking if it’s time to go to church. Nearly every other day, Irene Douthitt wonders what day it is. Serving as the sole caretaker to his 92-year-old mother is one of many obligations in Tony’s life.
‘”I can tell (first thing) when she gets up in the morning if it’s gonna be a good day,” he says. “We just have that connection, I guess.”
After Tony gets his mom tucked into her favorite pink floral chair with the red-checkered electric blanket and the TV turned on low, he heads over to his “baking house” to fix her breakfast. One morning it’s fruit, bacon and pancakes smothered in sticky syrup. The next, two slow-fried eggs kept warm in an oven while waiting on the country ham and homemade biscuits.
“She never complains,” says Tony. “She’ll eat anything I put in front of her.”
He walks the 20-foot stretch between the house he shares with his mother and the house he bought to serve as his commercial kitchen. Along the way, he satisfies the maker of the tiny paw prints winding their way between his feet. He opens a can of wet cat food for Missy, the vagrant cat that sleeps in the garbage can on his back porch. He’s pretty sure she’s expecting kittens. You can hear her loud purrs from the kitchen, where Tony has finally gotten down to a passion that has followed him throughout his life: baking.
Tony has been baking cakes for the past 36 years. It began a hobby he discovered when he was a teenager. Some may call it an uncommon pastime for a 16-year-old boy, but for Tony it was natural. As he puts it, “If you have something you like doing, it’s not a job.”
Shenna Moore, 39, has been buying Tony’s cakes for the past eight years. She says that her kids have “legit meltdowns if they have anything but a Tony cake” for their birthdays.
Recently Tony made a Mickey Mouse cake for a 3-year-old’s birthday party. The boy’s grandmother texted him later that day to report her grandson loved the cake so much, he didn’t want to cut it and share the slices.
For Tony, a trip to the grocery store is never just a trip to the grocery store. It’s a social commitment. He can’t turn a corner without running into someone he knows. During one holiday-season trip to Walmart, he didn’t make it past the entryway. After two hours of visiting in the store’s foyer, he decided to turn around and go home without purchasing anything.
Tony is so well loved in his community, people regularly ask when he plans to make his run for mayor. Even the current mayor, Gary Williamson, says he’ll vote for Tony if he ever runs.
Tony has three main devotions in life: his mom, his baking and his church.
For the past six years, Tony has been attending the First Baptist Church in Winchester. He sings in the choir in the men’s group at every Sunday service. He says church is where he is able to enjoy moments of peace. But it’s also where he finds a different community. He is in constant contact with his fellow parishioners, texting and calling frequently throughout the day.
A simple mantra guides Tony through life. “My thing is, you be nice to other people, they’ll be nice to you.”