PULLMAN, Wash. — A scholarship, created to recognize the achievements of famed Washington State University archaeologist, Richard Daugherty, will be renamed to honor the memory, too, of his wife and the role she played in his career. The scholarship, awarded to archaeology students at Washington State, will soon become “The Richard and Phyllis Daugherty Scholarship.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Jeff Puckett, development director for the College of Liberal Arts. “Phyllis was known and loved by everyone in the anthropology department for more than 30 years.”
“It’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t have graduate students and visiting archaeologists around the dining table,” said Melinda Beasley of Pullman, the Daugherty’s daughter.
Richard Daugherty’s career at WSU spanned 31 years and people who remember Richard, or Doc as he was called by fellow faculty and students, also remember Phyllis. “She was always there at the dig sites,” said Steve Samuels, WSU anthropology alumnus. “No matter how hot or how wet, she was there with her husband, helping.”
Before his retirement in 1982, Richard Daugherty had served as chair of the Department of Anthropology, pioneered archaeological methods which are now standard and served on the boards of nearly every regional, state and national archaeological and historic preservation council.
Phyllis Daugherty passed away June 30 after a long battle with cancer. Her family requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be sent to the Richard and Phyllis Daugherty Scholarship fund at WSU in Pullman. Gifts can be sent to the attention of Kay Glaser, College of Liberal Arts, P.O. Box 642632, Pullman, WA 99164-2632.
A memorial mass is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, July 20, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on 812 Bowker SE, Lacey. The Daugherty’s love for Dixieland Jazz will be evident at the celebration of life reception later that day from 2-4 p.m. at Olympia Elks Lodge, 1818 4th Avenue E, Olympia.
