Dougherty, William
DOUGHERTY, William John "Bill"
William "Bill" John Dougherty was born February 28, 1933, in Louisville, Ohio, and passed away on October 10, 2022. Bill spent his early years in Canton, OH, until his family moved to India in 1942, for his father's job with The Steel Company. Bill and his sister, Carolyn, attended an expatriate boarding school in Darjeeling. He also joined the Indian Boy Scouts and achieved the rank of Eagle, which included solo overnight camping in expansive tea gardens and group trips to the base of Mt. Kangchenjunga.
After the war he attended Lincoln High School in Canton and got a job at the local Timken Roller Bearings. Timken had a relationship with Georgia Tech, and in 1950 he moved to Atlanta and enrolled. In 1952 he was drafted into the Army and sent to Germany to work on helicopters. After the Korean War he returned to Georgia Tech, pledged Phi Kappa Tau, and graduated from the School of Architecture in 1960.
It was during this time that he met the love of his life, Helen Parker, who worked as a secretary in the physics department at Tech. They were married in 1962, and stayed happily married for 57 years until her passing in 2019. They settled in Atlanta, and Bill worked at a couple of architecture firms before opening his own office.
He was active in civic service, and was appointed to the Zoning Review Board by his friend, Mayor Maynard Jackson. During the early 70's there was pressure to redevelop Cabbagetown which required razing most of the old houses and structures in the neighborhood. He opposed these efforts and lobbied on behalf of historic preservation to save the neighborhood. The ZRB ultimately refused to rezone the area for the developers, and the neighborhood was saved. In his professional life he designed residential, commercial, governmental, religious and industrial properties across Atlanta, including Maynard Jackson High School in Grant Park. He was elected to the College of Fellows in the American Institute of Architects in 1980.
Bill continued to be his own boss for the rest of his life, and in 1992 moved from Buckhead to Newnan, Georgia, where he designed and built his dream house on the 10th green at the White Oak Golf Club. An avid golfer, he was a member at Ansley Golf Club for many years and kept a sprig from the Eisenhower Tree that he knocked off the one time he got to play in Augusta. He spent his later years working and travelling, spending time with his grandchildren, and watching the Braves. He is survived by his sister, Carolyn; his son, Bill; grandchildren, Elliott and James; and friends. To honor his memory please consider a donation to the Georgia Tech Foundation.
