Rose Marie (Behan) Dougherty, 88, longtime resident of Eliot, ME passed away peacefully on April 24, 2023 at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA.

Born in Dover, NH in 1934, she was the only child of John and Hilda (Caldwell) Behan. She graduated from St. Mary Academy, a local Catholic school for girls, and performed coursework at the University of New Hampshire.

For many years, Rose worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as a Secretary to officers in the Design Department. She was proud to have been recognized for her work editing the published technical papers of Captain S.R. Heller, Jr. She later worked as a Secretary to executives at Tyco International in Exeter, NH and then as a loaned executive to the Seacoast United Way before retiring.

Rose was married to Jack Dougherty for 50 years. They lived in Eliot, where they raised their four children, Rosemarie, John, Paul, and Kathleen, all of whom graduated from Marshwood High School. She was a longtime member of St. Raphael's Church in Kittery. She served in various lay leadership roles on Parish Council over the years. She also was a Eucharistic minister and sang in the church choir. In addition, Rose was the founding president of the Eliot Softball League, which she started in 1978 when girls were discouraged from playing baseball and no other spring sport options existed in town.

After Jack passed away in October 2015, Rose moved to the Simpson House in Philadelphia, PA. She was a member of the chorus there, was active on the resident committee, and continued her artwork. Rose enjoyed attending holiday and family events, as well as keeping up with news about her grandchildren.

Rose is survived by her daughter Rosemarie and her husband Tom Donnelly, her son John and his wife Victoria Dougherty, her son Paul and his wife Katie Dougherty, and her daughter Kathleen and her wife Barb Dunham. She also is survived by her seven grandchildren, with whom she loved spending time at Christmas and at York Beach in the summers. They are: Elizabeth Donnelly, Aidan Donnelly, Russell Dougherty, James Dougherty, Molly Dougherty, Finnegan Dougherty-Dunham and Gwendolyn Dougherty-Dunham.

SERVICES: Friends are invited to visit with Rose's family on Tuesday, May 2, from 5-7 pm, in the JS Pelkey Funeral Home, 125 Old Post Road, Kittery, ME 03904. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, May 3 at 11 am at St. Raphael's Church, 6 Whipple Road, Kittery, ME 03904. Burial will follow at the Brooks Memorial Cemetery, 1129 State Road, Eliot, ME 03903. For more information or to leave Online condolences please visit www.jspelkeyfuneralhome.com . In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rose's memory to Preble Street, a social services organization based in Portland that provides food pantry and shelter services to be people in need. Donations should be addressed to Preble Street, Development Department, 55 Preble Street, Portland, ME 04101. Care of the Estes Family has been entrusted to the J S Pelkey and Son Funeral Home.