Francis Patrick Doherty's Obituary
Francis Patrick Doherty (“Bud” or “Buddy”), husband, father and engineer, was surrounded by family when he passed on April 1 at the Washington DC Veteran's Medical Center at the age of 64. He was born and raised in Staten Island, NY, the oldest of five children from a traditional Irish-Catholic family. He spent four years in the Air Force, and met his wife, Chong Sun while serving in Korea. Until the day he died, he spoke of how crazy he was about his wife and his deep love for her. This July would mark their 40-year wedding anniversary.
After marrying and returning to the United States, Bud found work in the telecommunications field. Even though he was performing at the manager level, he was told that he could not officially be promoted without a college degree. With a young family, time and money were scarce, but Bud found a way to create a better life for his family. For seven years, he took night classes after working long days, eventually obtaining a degree in Electrical Engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
He moved the family to Virginia after accepting a position in telecommunications sales. He enjoyed being the facilitator between the technical staff and clients, as he was a “techie” at heart, but also extraordinarily charismatic. He traveled quite a bit for work and in his off hours he enjoyed being with his wife and two daughters (whom he affectionately referred to as his ladies). He worked hard to give his children things he didn’t have growing up and happily provided for them to attend college and travel abroad. When his eldest daughter married in Honolulu, HI, he paid for the 12-person wedding party to stay in Waikiki for an entire week to celebrate. Bud was fun and generous like that.
Always smiling and full of optimism, Bud found great happiness in simple things: holding his wife’s hand, listening to his daughters banter back and forth, reading the newspaper outside on a beautiful sunny day, watching History channel documentaries, listening to Irish music, holding his granddaughter and making her laugh.
In July 2011, Bud was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. Despite this, he kept smiling and rarely complained. He became actively involved with the Prostate Cancer Healing Well Forum, spreading awareness, positivity and hope to the prostate cancer community. "He was the heart and soul of HW," said his dear friend Terry Doane. "Bud was a beacon of hope to so many."
Bud is survived by Chong Sun Doherty, his wife of 39 years, daughters Linda Ann Doherty and Jennifer Doherty Hurst, son-in-law Dr. Frank Hurst, and his granddaughter, Gabriella Elizabeth Hurst.
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