DOUGHERTY, DUDLEY TARLTON (1923 - 1978). The following is an obituary for former Texas House Member Dudley Tarlton Dougherty. The obituary was published upon his death in a variety of newspapers.  Dougherty is honored with a cenotaph, or memorial marker, at the Texas State Cemetery. He is interred in Beeville. 

Prominent Beeville philanthropist Dudley Tarlton Dougherty, 54, died at 6:25 a.m. Wednesday in the Nix Hospital in San Antonio, following a lengthy illness.

The youngest of the four children of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Robert Dougherty of Beeville, he had been an independent oilman and rancher. The Rosary will be recited at 7 o'clock tonight at Dougherty's San Domingo Ranch home Funeral Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Thomas Drury and Father Charles McNaboe at 11 a.m. Thursday in St Joseph's Catholic Church interment will follow in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery with James R Dougherty III, Stephen Dougherty, Robert Wheeler, Bruce Baxter, Vincent Tarlton, Benjamin Vaughn III, Mario Russo, Robert Nogueira, John M Turner and Easterling Davis as pallbearers. 

Dougherty was born on Dec 18, 1923 in San Antonio, the son of Genevieve (Tarlton) and James R Dougherty. His mother was the daughter of Judge Dudley Tarlton, Chief Justice of the State Court of Civil Appeals and senior law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. His paternal grandfather, Robert Dougherty, came to Texas from Ireland and and founded the first academy in South Texas to give college credits. It was established at the ancestral home, Round Lake, near old San Patricio. After attending the local parochial and public schools and Culver Military Academy, Dougherty attended the University of Texas. In 1974 he received the doctor of humanities degree from Mary Hardin Baylor College in recognition of his humanitarian efforts. He was also named "Patron of the Arts and Sciences" for 1975-76 by the University of Texas.

During World War II, he served in the United States Army and was in combat across France and Germany with Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army. He was decorated for bravery and awarded four Bronze Stars for the campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe. In 1953, Dougherty was elected to the Texas House of Representatives and the following year he ran un-successfully against Lyndon B. Johnson for the United States Senate. From 1959-61 he was publisher and editor of La Prensa, a San Antonio Spanish-English language newspaper. As a trustee of the James R. Dougherty Jr. Foundation, named for his brother. Dougherty had often been instrumental in earmarking foundation gifts to local institutions Dougherty funds provided all, or part, of the costs of building the James R. Dougherty Jr. Recreation Center for St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Bee County Public Library (dedicated in memory of James R. Dougherty Sr.), the Student Union and Dental Hygiene buildings at Bee County College, the Bee County Coliseum and the Doctors Building, among others. 

Tuesday night the City Council approved naming the new Boys Club building in Dougherty's honor, following a recommendation from the young club's board of directors, after a grant was received from the Dougherty Foundation for its operation. Another large gift from the Foundation to the Beeville Volunter Ambulance Service was also announced this week and through the years many local charities. Individuals and students have been recipients of the Dougherty family's un-matched generosity. Dougherty was active in the Catholic Church, which had honored him as a Knight of Malta, a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher and as a member of the Order of Lafayette. In 1963, he had attended the coronation of Pope Paul VI in Rome. He had served on the boards of directors of two Beeville banks, First National and Commercial National, and of the Bee County Public Library. He was a supporting member of the Corpus Christi Art Foundation and a patron of the McNay Art Museum and Institute and the Southwest Research Foundation, both of San Antonio. He was a member of St Josephs Catholic Church and the Beeville Rotary Club. 

Survivors Include his wife. Mrs. Gloria K Dougherty of San Antonio, two sons, James R Dougherty III of Stockbridge, Mass. and Stephen Tarlton Dougherty of Beeville, one daughter. Mrs. Mary Patricia Marcotte of Los Angeles. Calif, one sister, Mra John King of Corpus Christi, and two grandchildren. Kevin Francis Dougherty and Erin Michelle Marcotte.