JOHN DOHERTY

John A. Doherty Funeral services for John A. Doherty, 91, of Norfolk, , Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Norfolk, Nebraska: Reverend Dan Andrews will be the celebrant. Burial will be in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Norfolk, Nebraska. Military Rites will be conducted by the United States Navy Honor Guard, American Legion Post 16 and V.F.W. Post 1644. Visitation will be Monday from 4-7 p.m. at the church. Home for Funerals, Norfolk, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements. John died Friday, April 5, 2013 at Heritage of Bel Air. John A. Doherty was born on January 5, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the oldest of 5 sons born to Gerald and Doris (Taylor) Doherty. John graduated from Newton High School in Newton, Massachusetts and went on to Villanova College in Philadelphia, PA, graduating in 1944 with his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Because this was during the war, John was sent to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and served in the Navy for three years. John began his civilian professional career in 1947 at Eastern Stainless Steel in Baltimore, Maryland as a Draftsman / Design Engineer. He left Eastern Stainless in 1948 to work for Perini Corporation in Framingham, MA. John was Chief Engineer in the construction of huge aqueducts, which are huge tunnels for powering water turbines for Hydro - Quebec. In 1963, John returned to Eastern Stainless Steel as a Production Engineer. One of his many innovations was the world's first inter-changeable electric furnace shell. John's design allowed for a safer and cooler furnace reline and greatly reduced production delays. The interchangeable shells have become a standard at all of the larger NUCOR Steel mills. In October of 1968, John moved his family to South Carolina to join with an entrepreneur named Ken Iverson to build a very modern state of the art steel mill called Eastern Carolina Steel. To help hold costs down, John designed his own reheat furnace and a simple but effective ladle transfer car to increase productivity; he also designed the facility to make the plant more efficient. The little steel mill worked so well that John was sent to Norfolk, Nebraska to design and build a slightly larger version of this mill. North East Nebraska Steel was constructed in 1973 and started melting in 1974. About this time, the company changed all of the facility names to NUCOR and John was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of NUCOR. John oversaw the doubling of the facility and the movement into newer more exotic chemistries and shapes. Under John's leadership, the Nebraska facility consistently made profits for NUCOR. John also designed and laid out the expansions in Jewett, Texas; Plymouth, Utah; Nucor Yamato, in Arkansas; and Crawfordsville, Indiana. In 1948 John was united in marriage to Eileen VanCleve, daughter of Walter and Mary (Green) VanCleve at St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Avon, New Jersey. John is survived by his wife Eileen and five children and their spouses. Jack and Florence Doherty of Denton, Maryland; Betty (Doherty) and Jim Stanley of Florence, South Carolina; Mike and Wylyn Doherty of Brandon, Mississippi; Pat (Doherty) and Jon Widner and Jerry and Dawn Doherty of Norfolk. Eleven grandchildren - John Doherty and Joseph Doherty of Denton, Maryland; Michelle (Stanley) and Joseph Grice of Beaufort, South Carolina; Jimmy and Kristen Stanley of Charleston, South Carolina; Patrick Stanley of Florence, South Carolina; Michael Doherty and Sara Beth Doherty of Brandon, Mississippi; Jill (Widner) and Chris Barr of Norfolk; Lynne (Widner) and Adam Ankersen of Nickerson, Nebraska; Max Doherty and Hazel Doherty of Norfolk, and seven great grand-children Katie, Hannah, Ellie, Lauren, Graham, Grant and Jimmy, and three brothers, Paul Doherty of Hopkinton, MA; Gene Doherty of Norwood, MA and Bernard Doherty of Harwich, MA. John was preceded in death by his parents Gerald and Doris Doherty, brother Gerald (Freddie) and grand-daughters Beth and Karen Stanley. John served on numerous boards throughout northeast Nebraska. He believed in promoting and funding higher education, he was dedicated to the fundamentals of the community and his Church, loved and highly respected by many.