Obituary for
Regis F. Dougherty
Regis F. Dougherty March 12, 1921 - May 7, 2017
Regis F. Dougherty died in his sleep in his Trexler Blvd home on May 7, 2017 at the age of 96. He had fought declining health for a half dozen years but carried on with mostly self care until a final decline following surgery in April. His wife Betty predeceased him in 2015 after a marriage of 72 years.
Regis served in the US Navy aboard the destroyer escort USS Bright in WWII, and received decorations including a Purple Heart for injuries suffered when his ship was hit by a kamikaze during the siege of Okinawa. For several decades starting in the 1950s, he was both a US Mail contractor and a home builder in Allentown’s West End. He later began commercial building through his corporation College Heights Building Co.
In the 1970s, Regis acquired a tract of land from the Menninger Foundation in Topeka KS with his second corporation Woodbridge Development Co. He developed this fifty-five acre tract into commercial, multifamily, and single-family residences. For over thirty years, he then split his time between his businesses in Allentown and Topeka.
He is survived by his daughter Diana Miller and her 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild; his daughter Constance Dougherty, M.D. and her 2 children and 1 grandchild; his son Dennis and wife Kae and their 7 children and 31 grandchildren; and his son Duke. His middle son Ronald died in 1979.
Funeral arrangements are through the Weber Funeral Home. A funeral mass at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Sienna will be held at 11AM on Saturday May 13. Prior to the Mass there will be a visitation from 10 to 10:40am at 10:40am a eulogy will be given. He will be interred at Resurrection Cemetery alongside Betty and Ronald. More information is available at www.WeberFuneralHomes.com.
