Forrest Dougherty

Forest Dougherty, born April 5, 1928, on his parents’ cotton farm in Gilbert, Arizona. In 1939, the family moved to Phoenix, where Forrest was student-body president and a varsity football star at St. Mary High School. After graduation in 1947, he attended the University of San Francisco on a football scholarship for a year before joining the army and serving as a physical-training instructor in Germany. Dougherty returned to Phoenix after completing his military duty and successfully tried out as a “walk on” for the Arizona State College football team. He received a scholarship, and graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration in 1956.

Dougherty worked in quality control, and later in marketing and sales, with Reynolds Metals Company in Phoenix until the facility closed in 1983. He then joined the Southwest Gas Corporation as a marketing representative. Since retiring in 1993, Dougherty has devoted time to researching his two passions: Arizona history and Will Rogers.