Kay Marshall Dougherty

Kay Marshall Dougherty of Marion, Indiana died on Sunday, July 19th at Marion Health. She was born on May 22, 1935 in Swayzee, Indiana to Max and Betty (Mark) Marshall.

Kay attended Swayzee schools until her senior year, when she graduated from Marion High School. She found her true passion when she became a Montessori director for pre-school children at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Montessori School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She taught for 35 years and seeing young children grow to love learning gave her the greatest joy.

After retirement, Kay and her husband, James A. Dougherty, returned to Marion. She was a member of Marion First United Methodist Church, the Grant County Historical Society, Monday Conversation Club, P.E.O. Chapter AG, and active with the District and Conference United Methodist Women.

Kay was an avid reader and loved discussing books and ideas in studies and with friends and family. She believed that learning was an on-going pursuit for a rich life. She also found great joy in music. Throughout her life she sang in choirs wherever she was. And as she lost her hearing in her later years, she said that she almost always had music in her head. But what tied it all together was her storytelling. She remembered the people who shaped her and, especially, the children she helped to shape. She told stories of the ways she was introduced to good literature, poetry, fine music, love and acceptance. And through her life, she shared all of that with those around her.

Kay is survived by her daughters Sarah Dougherty Evans (Glenn), Susannah Dougherty, Margaret Dougherty Goodburn (John), and Rebecca Dougherty Schmidt; grandchildren Rachel Phillips, Jessica Goodburn, Anna Knight, Emily Goodburn, Nathaniel Goodburn, Michael Schmidt, Daniel Schmidt, Alison Moore, Kate Jones; fourteen great-grandchildren; brother, Don Marshall and brother-in-law, Bill Dougherty.

She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and brother, Mike Marshall.

Arrangements for Kay have been entrusted to the College Park Chapel of Armes-Hunt Funeral Home and Cremation Services. The family will plan a service to celebrate Kay's life at a later time.

Online memories and condolences may be shared at www.armeshuntfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Marion First United Methodist Church, 604 South Adams Street, Marion, Indiana 46953, or to CASA, casaofgrantcounty.org.