Stephen Dougherty

Stephen Michael Dougherty was born on Saturday September 9, 1967, in New York, New York, to the loving parents of Michael Stephen Dougherty and Diana Maldonado Dougherty. He was the firstborn son; two years later came another son. They moved several times in Stephen's young life and settling in Virginia around 1983. He attended Clover Hill High School in in Chesterfield, Virginia. He was on the wrestling team, loved reading, and playing guitar. Stephen graduated from Clover Hill High and went to college for two years. After college, he worked several different jobs and met his first wife. About one year later, they were married, to this union his first son, Tristan, was born. This marriage was dissolved. Later, Stephen would marry again, and to this union, he fathered three children, Michael, Miranda, and Mackenzie. The family eventually moved to Colorado. In 2008, Stephen would meet his present wife, Gale, originally from Hopewell, Virginia. Stephen and Gale were married on October 5, 2009, in Denver, Colorado. They were married for only six short years, but they loved each other very deeply. Stephen was a tall handsome man, who was very loving and had a great sense of humor. He loved football, music, and was an avid reader. He was very philosophical and loved having discussions on any and every topic. He liked to play, "The Devil's Advocate" and get people into powerful debates. Stephen could be very stubborn, but he loved his children and his wife, Gale, passionately like no other. He was very protective of them and you could not say anything he perceived as derogatory about his family especially about his wife and children. He had a very short-tempered. He would let you know you were treading on dangerous grounds. Stephen was not a perfect person no one is but he had so much heart, soul and pain. He has had many great losses but he never gave up hope that things would eventually get better. Donating his organs and tissue was Stephen's last gift to this world; he wanted to help those who desperately need it. He was deeply loved by his parents, younger brother, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends. "Stephen will leave a big hole in our hearts with him gone. However, he will always be with us in our memories until we see him again in glory with the Lord Jesus." Stephen was preceded in death by his beloved grandmother, Olga "Pippa" Maldonado of New York. Stephen departed this life on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, in Aurora, Colorado. Those he left behind include his loving and devoted wife, Gale G. Cosley-Dougherty; his son, Tristan Dougherty from Virginia; his children from Colorado, Michael, Miranda, and Mackenzie; his parents, Michael S. Dougherty and Dianna Maldonado Dougherty; his brother, Brian Dougherty, from Virginia; his aunt and uncle, Mary and James Cramsie, his cousin, Thomas Cramsie of New York; friends, Racheal Jones Campbell, PeyPey McGhee, Ryan Gracey, Robert McClellan, and many others. No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye, you were gone before we knew it, and only God knows why. And if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever. Our hears still ache in sadness, and secret tears still flow, What it meant to lose you, No one will ever know. You will be forever in my heart; you are gone, yet not forgotten. Although we are apart your spirit lives within me forever in all of our hearts.

Funeral Home: Pipkin Braswell Funerals and Cremation - 2050 Uinta Street, Denver, Colorado
Service: 3/14/2016 at 1:00 PM - Pipkin Braswell Chapel of Peace - 3370 Ivy Street, Denver, CO