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Dr. Knowles DOUGHERTY

1934 - 2016

Dr. Knowles DOUGHERTY

1934 - 2016

Obituary

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BORN

1934

DIED

2016

About

Swarthmore College University of Colorado University of Wisconsin

Knowles DOUGHERTY Obituary

Name: Celebration of Life for Dr. Knowles DOUGHERTY
Start: 2016-09-17T19:00:00.000Z
End: 2016-09-17T22:00:00.000Z
Location: Plymouth Congregational Church

Published by Legacy Remembers on Sep. 11, 2016.

Age 82, of Minneapolis, Minnesota Passed away, Thursday, September 1, 2016 in his home. A celebration in the form of a "Thanks to You Party" planned by Knowles will be held on Saturday, September 17th, 2-5 pm at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403. Knowles was born June 28, 1934 in Austin, Minnesota to Richard and Harriet (Cathcart) Dougherty. He graduated from Austin High School in 1952, where he ran Track and Cross Country. He went on to run at University of Colorado – Boulder and at Swarthmore College. After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1956, he joined the American Friends Service, a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world to overcome violence and injustice. He served for 4 years in Guatemala, Mexico, and El Salvador. He later obtained his Masters Degree in Mathmatics from University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1962 and a PhD in Education from Harvard in 1968. On June 5, 1965, he married the former Darlene May Vertrees of St. Louis, Missouri. Knowles was pleased to gain a son, James Vertrees, on that same day. Knowles' interest in alternative education led him and his wife to found The Warehouse Cooperative School, an alternative school (K-12) which flourished in Boston, Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. The family moved to Missouri in 1975, where Knowles worked as a teacher, a farmer, and finally as a publisher. He published many books on many different subjects. His lifelong interest in running led him to publish the Cross Country Journal, a publication for Cross Country runners and coaches at both the high school and college levels for nearly 35 years. Knowles had a healthy intellectual curiosity and love of learning. He enjoyed teaching and attending many courses at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Knowles is survived by his committed partner, Veryl Andre; his step son, James Vertrees and his wife Nicole of Little Elm, Texas; his daughter, Elizabeth Kelly and her husband Michael of Apple Valley, Minnesota; three grandchildren, Sean Kelly, Dylan Kelly and Miracle Vertrees; his sisters, Martha Dougherty and Melissa Ruof and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Harriet Dougherty.

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Recent Activity

June 24, 2019

Leslie Clark posted to the memorial.

September 11, 2018

Someone posted to the memorial.

November 8, 2016

Rod Odonnell posted to the memorial.

6 Entries

Leslie Clark

June 24, 2019

Oh my goodness this is such sad news. I'm so very happy, as a former Warehouse student, to have had the opportunity to see him this Summer. That year at Warehouse was the happiest of my life. Knowles changed my life.

September 11, 2018

Thanks, Knowles. From a Warehouse School grad. Don White

Rod Odonnell

November 8, 2016

I recently found a collection of Cross Country Journals and proceeded to look for information about this very well done publication. Sadly I learned of Knowles passing. I had written a few articles for the Journal and had spoken with him over the years. It was an honor to know him and I am very appreciative of his contribution to the wonderful sport of cross-country Rod O'Donnell Belpre, Ohio

Geraldine Combs Sprading

September 24, 2016

He was my Spanish and math teacher in high school and a wonderful person. I learned so much from him. I always admired the person he was. I am so sorry to hear that he passed away.

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Becky Ostroff

September 21, 2016

Thank you Knowles for making the world a better, smarter and more interesting place .

Frank Richards

September 13, 2016

Well,my memories of Knowles start at Austin HS math classes of Ma Black, where my twin Floyd and I were "the apple of the teacher's eye". Knowles and Russ Wangen were always friendly and perhaps a little amused by us farm-boys. [Actually our connections to Dougherty's go back to 1940 when our parents borrowed money from his uncle Park Dougherty's 1st National Bank to buy the 200 acre farm at Dexter! But we boys didn't know that until later.] And Floyd and I had no contact with AHS friends outside of class.

After AHS years, somehow we stayed in contact well enough to know about Knowles working with the American Friends Service Committee [Quakers] in El Salvador, and enough contact with his parents to hear them tell about spending some time [when?] in Turkey hosting foreign visitors [Quaker visitors?].

Knowles and Darlene attended Sally's and my wedding on 27Dec1964 in Rockford IL and I recall feeling frustrated that I was kept too busy to chat with them... Then they got married themselves in 1965.

We two and our 2 children stayed with Knowles and Darlene, Jimmy and Elizabeth in their Missouri home, twice: First was a Thanksgiving weekend trip from Chicago in 1975 or 1976, and I remember our daughter Kari, about 7, helping Elizabeth find and collect the eggs. Second was an overnight waystop for us four on our big move from Oak Park IL to CA in Feb1984.

And after that, while Knowles had his print shop on Main Street in Austin, whenever Sally and I visited from either Madison WI [1992-2002] or CA [2002 to date], we enjoyed an evening together at the Wangen's: Knowles, Norma and Russ, Sally and I, and Joann and Harry Stevens. You can imagine the conversations!

We two met Knowles and Floyd once [say 2003] near Pasadena for a contradance, plus conversation.

Sally and I stayed overnight with Knowles at his home not far from the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in 2003, and similarly with Knowles and Andre, at her home, in 2011.

Our surviving emails over the years show our mutual interest in nutrition, and improving the system of public education, and more ...

Most recently, on 9Aug2016 at Shirley Biewen's, Knowles and Andre were most admirably able to join Shirley, Floyd and Carol Marquez-Olson, and Sally and me for lunch and conversation. When I asked for more information about his dad [Richard D.] and his uncle Park D., Knowles told us the inside scoop on SPAM, which we were not able to learn at the newest SPAM Museum just days earlier: Namely, Jay Hormel and Park D. knew and respected each other from years of playing bridge together. So in the early days of WWII [like 1939] when a canned meat was needed by the Allied military so they would never be without food, Jay called on Park to head up the SPAM historic effort or program; and the rest is history, to put it mildly.
Perhaps this historical background is in Richard D.'s 1966 book about the first 75 years of Hormel's. Richard also edited and published The Squeal which came out once a month for many years.

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