Joseph M. Dougherty

DOUGHERTY Col. Joseph M, Ret. USAF, died Sep 18, 2011, following a lengthy battle with brain cancer. Born Feb 10, 1931 in Glasgow, KY, he was a son of the late Mark Alden and Kathleen McQuown Dougherty. After graduating from Glasgow High School, he joined the Air Force. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was Chairman of the Honor Committee, and graduated in 1956. There he formed life-long bonds of friendship with his classmates. In order to pursue his passion for flying, he chose a career in the Air Force. He earned a master's degree in English at Vanderbilt University and served as an English professor at the United States Air Force Academy. When his former students began to be assigned to combat duty in Vietnam, he and other West Pointers on the faculty volunteered for duty there in 1966. Joseph flew C123's as a member of the Ranch Hand squadron. On Oct 31, 1966, he was shot down, rescued, and awarded the Purple Heart. After returning from Vietnam, he was assigned to the NATO staff in Germany. While there, he took great joy in touring Europe with his family. He later completed an assignment at the Pentagon and then returned to Kentucky to head up the Air Force ROTC program at UK. Following retirement, he helped develop a family farm in Metcalfe County and finally bought the Cessna airplane he had always talked about. In 1999, he flew his plane to a national aviation record for touching down in each of the 48 continuous states in five days, five hours, and eleven minutes. He was a founding member of Tates Creek Presbyterian Church where he served as a trustee and he was on the advisory committee for the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary. For over thirty years, he met monthly with members of "Henry's" Men's Dinner Group. In his latter years, he took great delight in engaging in the lives of his grandchildren for whom he wished to create enduring childhood memories like those so precious to him. Besides his wife of 55 years, he is survived by four children and their spouses; Dr. Mark and Natasha Dougherty, Lenore and Dan Breeden, and Amy Dougherty, all of Lexington, and Drs. Jeanie and Paul Dassow, Chattanooga, TN; a brother, William R. (Joan) Dougherty, Nashville, TN; a sister, Louise D. Hensgen, Raleigh, NC; fifteen grandchildren, Joseph (Laura), David, William, Julia, Pauline and Michael Dougherty, Kathleen (Joseph Hudson), Elaine and Caroline Breeden, Amy, Ben, Laura, Anne, Maria and Daniel Dassow, and a great-grandson, Hunter Dougherty. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Jeanette Nelson and Marjorie Underwood. Services 11:30am Sat at Tates Creek Presbyterian Church followed by a reception. Visitation at church Fri from 4-8pm. Burial Lexington Cemetery. Milward-Broadway in charge. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Deacon's Mercy Fund, Tates Creek Presbyterian Church, 3900 Rapid Run Dr., Lexington, or to L'Abri Fellowship General Fund, 1465 12th Ave. NE, Rochester, MN 55906-4383. www.milwardfuneral.com