Florene Ann Daugherty (DuChene) was born in Garrison, North Dakota on October 25, 1928. She lost her arduous battle to Alzheimer’s disease on May 21, 2022, in Columbia, Missouri at the age of 93 while holding her daughter’s hand. Despite her affliction, her family never stopped seeing her warm smiles, unwavering love and witty humor.
She was born before and raised during The Great Depression. Due to this and World War II, she and her family lived in absolute poverty. When she was a small child in Garrison, several families joined as a unit, but once World War II began the families were sadly split up. When she was in junior high school, her family moved to Oak Harbor, Washington. She attended Catholic school as a child and was a devout Catholic throughout her life.
At the age of 19, Florene caught the eye of Ben Daugherty while he was stationed in Oak Harbor. Their incredibly rare 73 year and 10-month love story thus began and took them all over the United States as well as to the Philippines. As Ben and Florene built a wonderful life together, they made an amazing team and always supported each other. As a United States Marine Corps family, they endured several extensive separations during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Florene continued to be steadfast in raising their family while Ben was away. She and their daughters accompanied Ben to the Philippines and their son was born during this deployment. When he returned from Vietnam, Ben went to night school and Florene continued to focus on raising the children. In 1967 they moved to Camdenton, Missouri where they have since resided. Florene was not complete without Ben; she spent the better part of her life being devoted to him, their children and grandchildren.
At the Heavenly gates to greet her is their daughter Joy Sweigart and son Ben Daugherty, Jr. (Skip), USMC; mother Mary Elizabeth DuChene and father Florent J. DuChene; brother Jerry DuChene, sisters Terry Horton and LaVerne Messman; and multiple cousins, nieces and nephews.
Florene/Mom/Nunie is survived by her loving husband of 73 years, Major Ben Daugherty, Sr, USMC Retired, of Osage Beach, Missouri; daughter Linda Hulett of Osage Beach, daughter-in-law Darlene Daugherty of Mack’s Creek; 8 grandchildren Nicole Bishop, Sydnee Mitchell (Austin); Megan Berge (Todd), Kevin Hulett (Katie); Jammie Weight (Mike), Jennifer Pugh (Paul) and David Neuenschwander (Jody), “adopted” son Larry Jefferson (Julie); 18 great grandchildren Braydlinn Bishop; Miranda Rykal (Chris) and Sloane Watton (Josh); Lux and Hazel Hulett; Shelby Short (Cecil), Ashley, Dylan and Hayden Weight; Austin Pugh (Alicia), Brandon and Danielle Pugh; Jessica Moore, Paige and Cambrie Neuenschwander; Mackenzie, Kialah, and Kennedy Jefferson; and 5 great great grandchildren Lucas and Greyson Short; Gwen Pugh; Stella and Ashtyn Watton; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Flowers are welcome; contributions for “Joy for All Companion Pups’ can be given or sent to Linda Hulett, Megan Berge or the PayPal account @joyfornunie. One of these pups was given to Nunie at the University Hospital in Columbia and made all the difference in her last weeks. We would love to be able to donate more of these furry interactive companions for others suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and/or dementia.
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