Elizabeth Agnes (Burke) Doherty

Elizabeth Agnes (Burke) Doherty died in Gaithersburg, Maryland Sunday, October 18, 2026, at the age of 96.
Known to all as Betty, she lived a long and full life defined by her deep faith, love of family and a searching nature.
Born November 14, 1929 to Agnes Elizabeth (Kelley) Burke and John Michael Burke in Boston, MA, she and her sister Mary grew up in Brighton.
Betty graduated from Regis College in 1951 with a Business Degree.
In 1948 she met Neil Francis Doherty of Charlestown, MA at the home of her cousin Jimmy who had served with Neil in the Marine Corps.
They were married July 12, 1952. That same day they boarded a plane for Washington, D.C. to seek work and their future.  They soon met John and Pat O’Neil who became their lifelong friends.
By 1963, their family had grown to six children. When asked how she managed it all, in particular when Neil was stationed overseas, her response was a determined, “One foot in front of the other.”
When the family move to Seoul, Korea, Betty joined an Ecumenical prayer group, navigating the family station wagon through downtown Seoul to attend prayer meetings.
From Korea, the family returned to Virginia. In addition to family life, Mom joined Mount Tabor, a religious community that included laypersons.  She began studying calligraphy.
In addition to family travels, Neil and Betty traveled overseas extensively, their trips often planned to coincide with their wedding anniversary when they would attend Daily Mass in the cathedral of a European city.
Many of these trips were made from their home in Woodstock, VA.
Betty and Neil moved from Virginia to Chatham, MA in 1992, where they welcomed their six children, their spouses and nine grandchildren, along with extended family. Betty’s sister, Mary Peters and her husband Gerry Peters also lived in Chatham. Their respective children and grandchildren spent days together at Hardings Beach and met up during the holidays.
Over the next 30 years, 46 Geranium Drive was the setting of countless family gatherings.
As mother and grandmother, her welcoming nature was a gift to all who stayed at Geranium Drive. Those she loved were left in no doubt, whether it was by way of serving her signature lasagna dinner, the personalized welcome signs and her attention at the kitchen table in the early morning. She was also the family photographer. At the end of a stay no one departed without posing in front of the fireplace. 
When Neil developed Alzheimer’s, Betty became his loving caregiver until he died.
In 2018, Betty’s youngest son, Jim, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and passed a few days after Christmas while visiting the Cape. The Dohertys rallied around his family, led by a devastated Betty.
Nothing was more important to Betty than her Catholic faith and her family. She once said her favorite places were churches and libraries. She was an avid reader with wide ranging interests: theology, memoir, poetry, mysteries, and history.
As a member of the Holy Redeemer community she joined the Faith Sharing Group where she made many close friends, in addition to serving as a Eucharistic Minister and Lector.
Eventually Betty returned to the area where she and Neil had raised their children, settling in Gaithersburg, MD, where she thrived, making new friends and enjoying family visits.
Survived by Christopher, his wife Jodi Mandel and children Mollie and Anna; Mary; Julie Reilly and children Neil and Erin; Neil Joseph and his wife Mary Connelly and son Kal; Therese and children Dennis and Rachel; the children of her late son James and his wife Jill Sanderson, Pearce and Scott, as well as loving nieces and nephews.
She is predeceased by her husband Neil Francis Doherty, her son James Michael Doherty, her sister Mary Burke Peters and brother John Burke.
There will be a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at the Holy Redeemer Church on Highland Avenue in Chatham on October 31 at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow in People’s Cemetery in Chatham.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to CECH, an organization Betty supported.
https://www.preventingcapehomelessness.org/donate.html