John William Dougherty

John William “Jack” Dougherty of San Antonio, Texas passed away February 19, 2022, at the age of 85. He was born March 29, 1936, in Albany, New York to William and Dorothy Dougherty. After graduating in the top 3% of his class from Christian Brothers Academy in 1954, he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, graduating in 1959 with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering. He enlisted as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, served in the Vietnam War, and achieved the rank of captain before reentering civilian life.

Jack met Carolyn Barbara Henry when she worked as a flight attendant for National Airlines. They married in September 1960 and had two children, Michael, and Kathleen. The family resided in many states throughout the country until they settled in San Antonio, Texas in the early 1980s.

To put down roots, Jack decided to open his own engineering firm and soil testing company. John W. Dougherty and Associates, Inc. was established in 1991 as a family business including his wife and both children. Although Kathleen eventually went on to pursue other career aspirations, Michael stayed on and was joined by engineer Sarah Gamez in 1993. The testing company, Geotechnical Consultants, Inc. was formed in 1995 but the two businesses merged in 1997 to combine all engineering and testing services into a single company. Sarah Gamez took over running the company when Jack retired in 2015 and both she and Michael remain there to this day.

Jack is preceded in death by his parents, his brothers, James “Jim” Dougherty and Joseph Dougherty, and his beloved wife of over fifty years, Carolyn. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Louisa Dougherty, his daughter and son-in-law Kathleen Dougherty and Andrew Sutton, his sister Karen Campbell, and long-time family friends Sarah and Martin Gamez. He was a loving grandfather to Michael’s children Matthew, Robert and Christopher and Kathleen’s children Clara, Eliza and Eirik Sutton. He also has one great-grandchild, Travis Dougherty.

Services were held at Porter Loring Thursday, March 31, 2022, at 11:30 am followed by a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston at 1:30 pm.