Alyce Dougherty

Alyce Dougherty went to be with her loving Lord and Savior June 11 2021, she was 96. She was surrounded by her family in her home in Newman Lake, Washington.

Helen Alyce Smith was born August 18, 1924 to Clarence and Helen Smith in Steele, ND. She grew up in Steele with her 6 siblings. She was the 3rd oldest. She loved her family so much. She told stories of them growing up on the farm before they moved into Steele. Her mother, Helen, would heat up stones on the stove and put them under blankets in the horse drawn wagon to keep the kids feet warm on the way to school in the winters. 

She graduated from Steele High School in 1942. She met the love of her life in high school Richard “Dick” Dougherty. They were married 53 years prior to his death in 1999. They had 2 children, John (Connie) & Pat (Russ) Schauer. Prior to her marriage she worked in the Kidder County Assessor’s office, and attended Jamestown College. 

Alyce always laughed when she told of being a bookworm and having to learn to be a farm wife. She’d rather be reading. She had to learn to drive tractors, trucks, milk cows, learned to ride horse, herd cows, all the things she had to do to help her husband make the HD Ranch run! And be a wife and mother as well!   

After their son John was paralyzed due to a swimming accident, she served on the ND State Examining Committee of physical therapists. She was John & Pats number one fan and they could not have had a better mother than Alyce! Her greatest heartache was seeing her son have to deal with paralysis and then his death at the age of 23.   

She was very involved in the United Methodist Church, UMW, Youth Leader, Sunday school teacher and worship choir. She was a member of the Steele American Legion Auxiliary & was on a Women’s Bowling League team.

She moved from Steele to Leavenworth Washington in 2014 to be closer to her family.    

Her greatest joys were her grandchildren, Stephanie Strawn (Randy Strawn), Luke Schauer (Jessie), Ali Fleenor (Kaleb). She loved coming out to Leavenworth Washington to watch them play sports, piano recitals, concerts and just hang out with them, baking, sewing and going on walks. She got to watch Ali play college softball and was thrilled to be able to see her play in college.     

She was blessed to have 2 great grandchildren and loved being GG to Kemper and Kallum Strawn. Branch Schauer was born 2 months after she went to Heaven but she would have loved him just as much!! Her grandchildren and great grandchildren spent many hours having books read to them by Gramma Alyce!  

She was preceded in death by her parents, all her siblings, Doris Bast, Robert Smith, Curt Smith, Iris Brousseau, Vernon Smith and Verla DeKrey, her husband Richard and her son John, twin grandsons Adam & Aaron Schauer. 

She is survived by her daughter Pat & Russ Schauer, Hauser, Idaho, grandchildren Stephanie, Randy, Kemper & Kallum Strawn, all of Hauser Idaho, Luke, Jessie, Branch Schauer of Athol Idaho and Ali & Kaleb Fleenor of Nampa Idaho. 

Our greatest memories will be her Bible reading every single morning and seeing her in prayer for her children, family and friends. Her love for Jesus is her legacy that we will always hold dear in our hearts. Whenever we needed prayer for something there was always a call to Gramma Alyce to pray for whatever we needed. We would say well Gramma has a hotline to Heaven so God will hear her prayers! Her last words to any of us would always be, “You’re all prayed for.” She will always be our Hero. Her steadfast faith in Jesus was our solid rock. We miss her very much but are so happy she is with her husband Dick, her son John and her Precious Jesus.  

She was put to rest in a private family ceremony in the Woodlawn Cemetery October 21, 2023.