Doherty Way named for former Henderson building superintendent
According to his family, city servant Patrick Doherty never wanted anything more than to make sure the newly incorporated city of Henderson turned into a prosperous place. For his service, the city honored him by naming a street for him.
“My dad was an inspirational man,” said Patricia Rowe, Doherty’s daughter.
He was born in Seattle in 1917 and came to Henderson in 1955 at the request of Mayor James French, who had known Doherty and wanted him to become the city’s building superintendent.
“As a city official, he was hard-working,” Rowe said. “He was the type of city official you wanted to have.”
Rowe watched Henderson develop because of her father’s planning, not really understanding how instrumental he was in the city’s development.
“I didn’t really pay much attention,” Rowe said. “It was just what D ad did. He was very involved and influential, and I guess I was never aware.”
At the time Doherty worked, Henderson still was a small town.
“He was amazed about how much it was growing,” Rowe said. “But he foresaw (the boom that) was going to happen.”
Aside from his dedication to the city, Jeanne Olson, another daughter, said Doherty loved to camp, fish and hike.
“We got to do a lot of those things with him growing up,” Rowe said.
Olson also said he was a camp host for the U.S. Forest Service for several years. In 1993, after serving 17,820 volunteer host hours, Doherty and his wife, Virginia, won the U.S. Forest Service Volunteer Campground Host Award in 1993.
Doherty served the city for 23 years before retiring in 1978.
Soon after he retired, Doherty found out that a street, Doherty Way, near Sunset Road and Valle Verde Drive, would be named for him.
“He was very thrilled,” Olson said.
Rowe, who had just moved to Oregon at the time, remembers him calling to tell her the news.
“He was never the type to toot his own horn,” Rowe said. “He was really proud. He was very deserving (of the honor).”
On her next visit to Henderson, Doherty took Rowe to see the street sign.
“I was really proud,” Rowe said. “It is nice to have this legacy.”
Doherty died Oct. 4, 2000, at 83.
“He had congestive heart failure,” Olson said.
Along with Olson and Rowe, he was survived by his wife, Virginia Doherty, who died 14 months later; a daughter, Frances Carey; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
He is buried at Palm Memorial Park in Henderson.
Contact Henderson and Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.
NAMING LAS VEGASThe first week of every month View runs stories on the history behind street, building and place names. Send ìNaming Las Vegasî topic suggestions to editor Steve Blust at sblust@viewnews.com or write to him at P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070.
