Frank A. Dougherty

Waltham – Frank Dougherty of Waltham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 24, 1923 and was raised in a little town forty-five minutes south, just across the Delaware River, called Berlin, New Jersey. After going to Camden Catholic High School he went to Camden Vocational School and went to work for the RCA Victor Company . . . sort of the 'Apple' of that era . . . RCA made great electronics.

At around the same time he began training himself as a pilot at nearby Pine Valley Airport, flying a Piper, and filled with the patriotic fervor of the moment joined the service at the height of World War II.

He was the middle child of five sons of Frank and Catherine (Smith) Dougherty, both natives of Philly. When the war came all five boys joined up, Joe with the Army and the other four, John, Frank, Vince and Anthony with the Navy.

All five survived the war during which Frank, Sr. and Catherine watched and waited and prayed like every other parent dreading the thought of getting an unexpected telegram, or worse, seeing an olive green car with a white star on the door pull up in front of the house. For them the telegram came in early August of 1945 . . . they almost made it as the Japanese capitulation came on the fifteenth of that month.

While serving as a fireman aboard the Seventh Fleet's USS Underhill, a Buckley-class destroyer escort, on patrol south of the Philippines between Okinawa and Leyte Gulf, Frank's ship was blown up beneath him . . . literally cut in two. That was on July 24, 1945, killing 112 members of the crew. He was exactly one month shy of his twenty-second birthday.

As Frank was exiting a magazine compartment a Japanese Kaiten submarine . . . the kamikaze's of the sea . . . rammed the Underhill and Frank was critically wounded. He wrote the obligatory "I've been wounded but don't worry" letter to Frank, Sr. and Catherine back home but the truth was that he suffered horrific burns to his hands and body and his left leg was blown off beneath the knee.

The Navy, concerned that he might not survive, rushed to award his Purple Heart at the fleet hospital in San Francisco where he was sent for initial treatment.

It took over a year but Frank recovered, was fitted with his prosthesis and set about rebuilding his life back home. And he never forgot the girl he'd met on a blind date while his ship was docked in Boston before being sent to the Pacific, Waltham native Margaret Fitzmaurice . . . and for her part, she longed to see her tall handsome sailor again.

It really was love at first sight. In 1952 the pair married at Saint Mary's Church and called Waltham home for the rest of their lives. They soon moved to the newly formed Saint Jude Parish where the Warrendale kids came to know the affable Mr. Dougherty as the guy who walked with a limp and not one to be fooled with. The cause of the limp was never questioned nor explained. It just was. That's how Frank liked to keep it.

It was only by chance that most of his neighbors learned that they'd been living in the midst of a genuine American hero . . . the real deal. Humble, kind, generous, faithful, loyal and determined are just a few words to describe him.

Frank Ambrose Dougherty was 92 when he died on Thursday, January 21, 2016 and joined his beloved Margaret who he'd missed every day since her passing on January 31, 1995. Frank died at the E.N. Rogers Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford following a period of declining health.

After the war he went to work as an electronics technician for the Itek Corporation in Burlington and although he could never solo again, loved flying . . . even enjoying going to the airport just to watch the planes take off and land.

Frank belonged to the Holy Name Society at Saint Jude's and was a member of the Amputee Veterans Association. He was also a member of the PBY Association, a group named after the Navy's flying boats that carried the battle to the enemy and came to the rescue to save their own.

And as happened with so many men of his generation Frank began attending his ship's reunion every year that he could, held on the anniversary of the Underhill's loss on the 24th of July at the Memorial Chapel on the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. There they could laugh and cry and remember and toast the men that they considered the real heroes . . . their comrades who didn't come home to see another Christmas.

In addition to his wife Margaret, and his parents, Frank's brothers predeceased him.

He leaves his son, Gerard F. Dougherty of Gilford, New Hampshire and many nieces, nephews and their families.

Family and friends will honor and remember Frank's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Wednesday, January 27th from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Waltham.