Dorothy 'Dot' Dougher Remembered By Family, Friends In Laguna

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Dorothy "Dot" Dougher has passed away, her family announced this week. Dougher died at her Laguna Beach home on Feb. 10, joining her husband of 50 years, Gerard "Jake" Dougher, who preceded her in death in 2000.

Dorothy was the eldest of three sisters, born Sept. 26, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Detroit's High School of Commerce, excelled in advanced secretarial skills, played on the basketball team, and was lead in the senior play, her obituary on Legacy.com reads.

She attended Wayne State University, worked as a model, and then as an executive secretary at Ford Motor Company, Legacy.com.

"She was also a fabulous seamstress and created stunning wardrobes. Determined and focused, Dot eventually advanced to become Women's Editor of the Ford Times magazine where she also caught the eye of her future husband, Gerry (Jake), whom she married in 1949."

She and her husband moved to Laguna Beach in 1974 and owned and operated many mobile home parks across Orange County. She worked for the family business until the age of 90, Legacy.com reports.

Dorothy also had a penchant for snazzy cars, jewelry, a great Chardonnay, Lay's potato chips, doughnuts, duplicating the Food Network's creations and enthusiastically sharing her grandchildren's lives with sporting events, plays, school, philanthropic events, hours of card playing, nightly episodes of "Jeopardy" and laughing until she cried.

Dorothy was the mother to three children: Gerry Jr. (Mary Dougher-Foster), Debi (Tom Pavlik) and Brian (Jaculin).

She was known as "Grandma Dippy" to nine grandchildren: Lindsay, Whitney, Chelsea and Dane Pavlik; Brianna and Michael Dougher; Elijah, Flora and Isabella Dougher.

She was also great-grandmother to six great-grandchildren: Addison and Grayson, Juliet and Mirabel, Dolly and Hank.

A devout Catholic, her family, will hold a private funeral for her in late February at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Laguna Beach. She will be interned at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, joining her husband and son, Gerry Jr., who preceded her in death.

In place of flowers, consider these donations in Dorothy's name:

Adopt a Center Operation Illumination https://4us.org/adopt-a-center or Mater Dei High School www.materdei.org/giving.