Virginia “Ginny” Dougherty of Galion, Ohio, left this earthly life on February 11, 2025. She was born on June 27, 1934, in Prospect Ohio, the youngest of 6 children born to Lawrence and Louise McLaughlin. Ginny’s life started out a bit rough, losing her father at just one year of age and going in and out of orphanage care along with her older sister Eileen and her 2 brothers. All throughout Mom’s life her sister Eileen was her staunch advocate and protector.
Mom attended a Catholic elementary school where she remembered two nuns who were especially helpful: one who taught her to read, and another who kindly ignored mom’s love of dill pickles… Some mornings her brother John would give Mom a nickel, with which she would buy a dill pickle in a paper bag that she smuggled in to her desk at school, periodically lifting the top of her little-kid desk to sneak a bite. Mom said later she was sure everyone could smell that pickle, but the nun never said a word and instead allowed this little black-haired, green-eyed child in hand–me–down clothes to enjoy her treat.
All that kindness and support paid off. Mom graduated high school in 1952 and went to work as a newspaper photographer in Urbana (using the Brownie camera our family still has) and she never stopped wanting to learn new things. She had special interests in History and Archaeology, and was fascinated by the NASA space program.
Everyone who ever met our mom fell in love with her. Her bright eyes, warm smile, and sweet spirit melted everyone’s heart. This included our dad, “Big John” Dougherty from Springfield, Ohio who met Mom and married her in 1955. They moved to Galion where dad worked at the family hardware store and mom became a telephone operator till they saved enough money to build their first home together. Once settled, they became mom and dad to their son, Tim, and me, their daughter, Colleen. Dad went to Heaven in 2002 and has waited patiently for 23 years for mom to join him.
Mom’s life was a life of love and service. While we were growing up, we welcomed many foster children into our home – kids who weren’t as fortunate as we were to have parents like ours. After that, mom became a nursery school teacher where her creativity and love touched the lives of lots of kids. Mom also worked as a cook in local nursing homes and was ultimately inspired to become a home caregiver for many older or infirm residents of Galion. She nursed our dad through 3 years with Alzheimer’s Disease, and then cared for her oldest sister, Mary, at the end of her life. By then she was in her early 70’s but mom didn’t stop there. She used her creative talents of sewing and crochet to make hats, gloves, and scarves for all of us, dresses for children struggling with poverty in Africa, turbans and caps for cancer patients, lap blankets and wheelchair bags for nursing home residents, and tiny, beautiful satin burial dresses and suits for stillborn babies. As a final act of service (and following her big sister Eileen’s example), Mom donated her body to the OSU School of Medicine.
Mom also had a real spirit of adventure. In 1956 she and dad along with mom’s mom and brother, John, drove to New Mexico to visit their sister Mary, a Carmelite nun who taught school next to famous artist Georgia O’Keefe’s home in Abiquiu. They met O’Keefe on that trip, and later on climbed around the trails and caves at the Bandelier National Monument. Mom rode a hot air balloon for one of her birthdays, participated in an archaeological dig in California with Eileen, and in 1987 joined me (Colleen) on an American Youth Hostels trip exploring the beautiful country of Ireland, from one side to the other and back again.
At home, Mom loved to tend flowers and feed the birds. She loved tending her zinnias and gladiolas, mystery lilies, and roses, and all the flowers Tim bought for her every Mother’s Day. She told us stories about the black-capped chickadees who watched her fill the bird feeders, the blue-jays raising their babies, and the “grackle pool party” at the bird bath in the summer of 2005! Last summer she spotted a hummingbird outside the window so Tim bought her a hummingbird feeder for her 90th birthday, which we celebrated with a lovely open house that mom really enjoyed.
Even in the last years of her life, Mom held on to her wits and resilience, her sense of humor and gratitude, her sweet spirit, and her faith. She was especially devoted to the Virgin Mary, and had a special place in her heart for Padre Pio, the priest who bore the wounds of the Stigmata and who encouraged us to “pray, hope, and don’t worry.” She was our go-to whenever we needed prayers for ourselves or others we knew needed them, including animals. Mom lived her values and passed them down to us. Both she and Dad taught us to have compassion, to treat others as we would choose to be treated, and that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything!” Along with Tim, his partner and “better half” Debbie, and myself, Mom is survived by her granddaughter Rachel (Justin Campbell) and numerous nieces and nephews. The family will arrange a memorial get-together sometime in the near future to celebrate our beautiful mom’s beautiful life.
Those wishing to share a memory of Ginny or send condolences to the Dougherty family may do so by visiting www.masfh.com.
The Mark A. Schneider-Gompf Funeral Home, Galion is honored to serve the family of Virginia “Ginny” Dougherty.
Funeral Home: Mark A. Schneider-Gompf Funeral Home; Galion
Website: www.masfh.com