2/9/1936 – 12/18/2024
Lawrence
Ernestine “Ernie” Dougherty, 88, died unexpectedly on Dec. 18, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas. She had recently moved to Pine, Colorado after living in Lawrence for almost 10 years. She was born Feb. 9, 1936 to Ernest R. Beverley and Mildred Kramer Beverley in Kansas City, Kansas, and lived in the Kansas City area for most of her life. She graduated from Loretto Academy in 1953. She married Neil W. Early on June 12, 1954; they later divorced. She married Peter T. Dougherty on Nov. 27, 1976, and was married for 41 years. Ernie was always a working mom, and she retired in 2001 as an insurance executive.
She was passionate about her faith, her family and her quilting. She enjoyed traveling with Pete across the country, and in more recent years with family to Arizona and Minnesota. She was a die-hard Jayhawks, Royals and Chiefs fan.
Ernie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a sister, one son, two grandsons and a granddaughter. She is survived by her sister, Patricia Farrington, Overland Park, KS; and Ernie’s and Pete’s eight children: Janice Early, Pine, CO, Nancy (Mike) Spiegel, Shawnee, KS, Neil (Cheri) Early, Omaha, NE, Keith Early, Peoria, AZ, Chris (Jana) Early, Overland Park, KS, Teresa (Byron) Riley, Holton, KS, Deanne (Jay) Arnote, Overland Park, KS, and Patrick (Kathy) Dougherty, Pearland, TX; 20 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, 9 great-great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and other family members.
A Mass will be celebrated in her memory at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Prairie Village, KS. Per her wishes, Ernie donated her body to the University of Kansas School of Medicine. The family requests memorials to the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Rd., Lawrence, KS 66044. To leave a message for Ernie’s family, please visit www.Rumsey-Yost.com.
Note: The Lawrence Times is offering Lawrence and Douglas County community members space to publish remembrances of loved ones who lived in this community, free of charge. These pieces are submitted by family and friends of the deceased and not written by our staff. Photos are also provided to the publication, and some may have been altered prior to submission. Read more obituaries here.
We are honored to be able to offer this service free to community members in mourning. We believe the last thing our neighbors need in those difficult moments is another financial matter to worry about. Please support the Times to help us continue providing this service — and news access — for all.
To submit an obituary to The Lawrence Times, please fill out the form at this link. We’re sorry, but we cannot accept obituary submissions via email or other means.
Receive obituaries via email
As of May 2026, we are launching a newsletter that will include obituaries only. Obituaries will no longer appear in our daily emails. You can sign up below to receive any and all of our emails. If you already receive our daily, weekly and/or occasional emails and you want to keep receiving them, please check those boxes as well.
Please make sure you click on the button that says “Yes, subscribe me to this list” in the email you receive or you will not receive future emails. That extra step is to protect you and make sure you’re not getting emails you don’t want.
