Sarah was preceded in death by her husband Thomas F. Doherty; her parents Berle and Ruby Sumner. Sisters: Myrtle Jean Hubbard and Bett McCarthy. Great grandson: Cody Myers. Extend family: Hugh Spencer and Ester Windham.
Sarah is survived by her daughter Linda Caruthers; her sons Stephen, David, Billy, and Richard Doherty, her sisters Annette Bradley, her grandchildren Angela Murrell, Mandy Doherty, Blake Doherty, Zach Doherty, Patrick Doherty, Michael Tant, Megan Watkins, Kelly Doherty, Sarah Doherty and Lindsay Davis and her great grandchildren Ben Myers, Bella Myers, Kenzie Watkins, Rhett Watkins, Logan Turner, Kaylee Davis, Joseph Tant, Jesse Tant, Will Doherty, Charlee Doherty, Avery Doherty, and Addy Doherty.
She also leaves behind extended family, Kim Hubbard, and Molly Floyd.
Joyce was best known as a loving and strong-willed mother of one daughter and four sons, Her family grew to ten grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren over her lifetime. She was the center of the Doherty family. She, at eighteen, began that family married to Tommy Doherty during the Korean War. She headed an air force family in England and Virginia for a decade before returning home to Tuscaloosa. Tommy passed away over thirty years ago and Joyce continued as the matriarch of her family. She did have a good friend in a kind, loving man, Hugh Spencer, who shared life with her for many years.
In her lifetime, she worked at the Gulf States Paper Company and assisted her daughter for many years at the hair salon, all in addition to raising a family of five and their children. She was loving and direct in her parenting style —you always knew where she stood and what she meant.
Joyce was an avid bowler for decades, bowling two or more days a week, greatly enjoying and competing in this pastime. More recently, she was active in the Holy Spirit Church Ladies Guild, enjoying weekly cards and bunco. She loved to grow plants and flowers, sharing them with her family. Azaelas and Hydrangeas were among her favorites.
Joyce enjoyed many lifelong friends outside of her immediate family, including Brenda whom she met in the 1950's in England. Unfortunately, at the age of 90, many of her friends have preceded her to the arms of god.
Joyce Doherty's greatest tribute is the lifetime of love and guidance she shared with her family. Her family continues to share that love in her memory with gratitude and respect.
A graveside service for Sarah will be held Monday, April 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Memory Hill Gardens, 2200 Skyland Blvd East, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35405.
Serving as pallbearers are Blake Doherty, Zach Doherty, Michael Tant, Patrick Doherty, Matt Watkins and Matt Davis.
