Rita Kathryn Dougherty

Rita Kathryn (Wolf) Dougherty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on November 17, 1936 to Anna Lee (McDowell) Wolf and Lawrence Anthony Wolf. Rita passed peacefully at home, in Columbia, Missouri at the age of 88 on October 18, 2025, surrounded by her children.

Rita was the youngest of four children that included her sister Rose Marie Zaloudik and brother Paul Lawrence Wolf. She is survived by her sister Mary Ann Blake and always looked forward to summer visits with Mary and her niece Gina.

Rita married Patrick Thomas Dougherty on August 12, 1957, and they had five children. Rita is survived by four of her children, Deb (Dougherty) Shore, Pam Dougherty, Angie Dougherty, and Ray Dougherty (and wife Renita). Their daughter Cindy Dougherty passed away in 2022. Rita is also survived by ten grandchildren, including Jessica (and husband Mike), Chris (and wife Chelsey), Cody, Melody, Rita, Kristy (and husband Alex), Zoë, Courtney, Aaron, and Eli (and wife Juliana); and five great-grandchildren, including Zach, Jayden, Logan, Ella, and Everett.

Rita served as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1957 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas after receiving her Nursing Degree in 1957 from St. Anthony’s School of Nursing in Oklahoma City. She began her career as a Registered Nurse at Stillwater Municipal Hospital in Oklahoma, then worked at various hospitals over the years, and retired from Boone Hospital in Columbia, Missouri in 2000 where she worked most of her career.

Rita’s colleagues called her a “nurse’s nurse” as she looked out for others and advocated for nurse and staff rights. Rita was a champion for women’s rights, equality, and social justice. In both her personal and professional life, she spoke up when she saw a need to support others.

Many of her colleagues recollect that as a nightshift supervisor, Rita opened the cafeteria at night for working nurses and staff who needed sustenance during their break. She warmed up the food from the evening shift and served them herself. All were grateful. This advocacy for others led to a permanent change at the hospital that made the cafeteria available for nightshift workers during her tenure.

Rita had a great group of women friends who spent time together over the years, and she made friends easily at work, at the hair salon, and at Curves where she spent as much time socializing as exercising. Rita had a great sense of humor and loved to engage people in conversation; she would often have people in the checkout line at the grocery store talking and laughing as they waited their turn.

Rita was a pillar of love, strength, and determination for her children and grandchildren throughout their lives. She was known to her grandchildren as G-ma, and they often brought their friends over to meet her. She was a good listener, helping us work through life’s problems, and was a teacher of everything from “always save half of your paycheck” to the daily patience of waiting for bread to rise. Rita was a gifted cook and baker: grace, joy, and hard work were stirred into every pot of beef stew, rolled into every batch of cinnamon rolls, and baked into every pan of corn bread. Her children and grandchildren were known to raid the freezer late at night for an early taste of her Christmas candy and cookies that she prepared ahead for holiday time.

Rita’s love of SkipBo and jigsaw puzzles brought family to the table, and her love of folk music brought the voices of Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, and others drifting through the house. Outside, her talents continued with her many beds of roses and her gardens bursting with okra, corn, tomatoes, and green beans.

Rita was a talented pianist and played for her family for many years. We gathered around the piano during holidays to sing Christmas songs together and learned to play piano ourselves.

Rita had a great sense of humor and would often leave us laughing with her unexpected hilarious comments. But with her genuine nature she would also give you “the look” if she sensed any tomfoolery or shenanigans. She had no patience for nonsense which encouraged us to be on good behavior.

Rita’s husband Patrick was the love of her life. He wrote many love letters to Rita throughout the years and often sang to her Doris Day’s song, Secret Love, which he sang to her during the last days of his life. Every morning, he told her she was more beautiful than the day before, and she would roll her eyes. We all agreed; even in her last days Rita was beautiful and radiant, inside and out.

We feel incredibly lucky to have had our mother, sister, grandmother, and great grandmother on this earth for 88 years, and our hearts are heavy with loss. Her strength, kindness, caring, and humor will endure, and her legacy will continue through us. We imagine her arriving in heaven and rolling her eyes at Pat when he tells her she is more beautiful than ever. Goodbye Mom, we love you!

In lieu of flowers, Rita has requested that you make a donation to one of her favorite organizations: Red Cross, Columbia Food Bank, and/or Boonslick Kiwanis Club.