Katharina "Kathe" Horsch Dougherty passed away on February 23rd, 2021 at the age of 98 in Greeley Colorado. She was born December 28, 1922 in Landshausen, Dillingen, Bavaria, Germany to Andeas and Frances Horsch. She married Neil Leland Dougherty on February 25, 1954 in Miami, Oklahoma. Kathe met Neil when he was stationed in Germany with the Army Corps of Engineers and they were married after he returned to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
In 1960, Kathe and her sister, Agnes Witzleben, owned a diner in Pratt, Kansas, directly across the highway from where her husband, Neil, and his brother, Jim, had their trucking company, Midland Transportation. By 1970, Neil and Kathe moved from Pratt, Kansas to Denver, Colorado where they purchased rental properties, upgrading them, and managing them. Their first property was a duplex where they lived in one unit and rented the other side. She actively participated in real estate maintenance and management.
She was a caring and giving person, sharing with family and friends. She and Neil had no children, so they would bring young nieces and nephews for weeks at a time. Introducing them to German culture and foods. She taught them building trade skills used in their rental properties, such as painting and carpet laying. When around her family, Kathe loved sharing her favorite Bavarian dishes that became favorites for generations of Dougherty family reunions. She would bake dozens and dozens of German cookies during the Christmas season. She spent countless hours knitting and crocheting and taught generations of Dougherty’s knitting and crocheting. She had a garden every summer and her plum trees produced so many plums that the branches had to supported with lumber and planks. She enjoyed sharing baked goods packed with her home-grown plums.
She is survived by nine nieces and nephews; Richard Haase, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Judy Zwillich, of Bend, Oregon; Dick Dougherty, of Great Bend, Kansas; Michael Dougherty, of Livingston, Texas; Randy Dougherty, of Banderas, Texas; Kevin Dougherty, of Brighton, Colorado; Daniel Dougherty, of Brighton, Colorado; Lynn Dreher, of Loveland, Colorado; Todd Witzleben, of Winnipeg, Canada; and Cindy Graham, of Winnipeg, Canada
She is preceded in death by husband Neil Dougherty (2011) and two nieces, Mary Lou Robinson (2010); and Ann Miller (1991.)
Memorial Service to be held on June 4th at 10am at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary in Centennial, CO.
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