Taunton says goodbye to State Rep. Carol Doherty

TAUNTON — “I knew her for every minute of my life,” said Michel Mok, nephew to Carol Doherty.

Mok said she preferred being referred to as “titia” (Portuguese for “aunty”), instead of aunt, because “it made her seem older than she felt.”

It was a celebration of life Saturday morning, April 12, for State Rep. Carol Doherty at Memorial United Methodist Church, at 176 Somerset Ave. in Taunton.

Husband Dennis Cook was together with Carol Doherty for 34 years. He said his favorite trait of his wife’s was her ability to entertain.

“She would entertain. She had a great wit. The easiest conversationalist. It never got dry,” Cook said.

When his parents divorced, Mok said Carol “became the most reliable member of family to me.”

“She loved all her family,” he said, saying goodbye, just like everyone in attendance.

Larger than life

Doherty died on Feb. 15 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  She was 82.

Just 10 days prior, Gov. Maura Healey came to her Taunton home to officially swear her into office to serve her third two-year term. Doherty hadn’t been able to travel to Boston for the swearing-in ceremony at the beginning of the year as, by then, she was gravely ill.

“What she was most proud of was being state representative. I feel she lived her whole life to do that,” said Cook, adding she was “always comfortable in her own skin.”

Barry Sanders, city councilor and dear friend to Doherty and her family for the last 17 years, said she literally worked up to her last day. “She was unrivaled in her life of public service,” said Sanders, who handled hosting duties for her funeral services.

“She let her record and empathy speak for itself,” said Heidi Fiore, reverend at the church who counted Doherty as a dear friend to her.

Before delivering a prayer, Fiore talked about one of the last conversations she had with Doherty. She told Fiore, “she didn’t want to die, not until I did something great.”

Fiore told the guests, “Well, her whole life was something great” and Carol “wasn’t just a politician. She saw people.”

Shaping the future

Born in Fall River on Feb. 28, 1942, Doherty would call Taunton her home beginning in 1965 and devoted most of her adult life to education.

She started off as an elementary school teacher in New Bedford, and eventually moved to Taunton’s Edmund Hatch Bennett School and then worked as a guidance counselor at Bennett School.

In addition to a nearly two-decade career as director of professional development at Northeastern University, Doherty was elected five times (2011-2020) to Taunton’s school committee, served two terms as president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (1980-1984), and earned a master’s in education from Bridgewater State College now known as Bridgewater State University.

Doherty worked and succeeded in expanding public education funding in the state when she was MTA president, said City Councilor Phillip Duarte, who served as both campaign manager and legislative aide to Doherty for a period.

Duarte said that while she was on the Taunton School Committee all those years, “she had something to say about everything, and that was usually the last word,” which brought a chuckle to the room.

“All those years, growing and learning from those experiences servicing the public, it’s helped me. I feel satisfied solving problems,” Doherty told the Gazette in 2022.

Grateful public servants

Duarte said Doherty had a profound impact on his life. It was Doherty who encouraged him to run for the City Council.

“She saw something in me,” and “I owe so much of my success to her,” he said.

And Duarte saw much in Doherty. “She was known for her unparalleled constituent services,” he said, remembering her working at all hours of the night, whether at home, in her city office, or at the state house. “She didn’t take her position for granted.”

Sanders concurred that Doherty also encouraged him to run for City Council.

“Her love looked like justice and compassion,” Sanders said.

Becoming a state representative

A Democrat, in 2020, Doherty was first elected in special election, taking over the seat of State Representative for the Third Bristol District, which is made up of parts of Taunton and Easton, when former State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell vacated it to become mayor of Taunton.

Doherty then won the seat for her first full term later that year during the state election. She would go on to be re-elected in 2022 and 2024.

Just a few of her many accomplishments as state representative, some highlighted by her obituary, include introducing legislation to lower costs for working families and seniors, securing millions of dollars in earmarks and bond appropriation for environmental, public safety, and infrastructural projects in her district, advocating and filing legislation focusing on mental health in schools, working to ensure American Sign Language is offered in each of the Commonwealth’s public schools, and proposing, as one of her last bills, H.556, to establish CPR and AED training as a statewide high school graduation requirement.

Doherty was also a strong advocate for health care. During her time, she pushed for legislation meant to ensure increased training opportunities in the healthcare industry and fought against the closing of crucial programs and removal of essential services from Morton hospital. “We are in a crisis,” she said during a virtual hearing held by the state Department of Public Health back in May 2023. “Many are seeking help for substance abuse and disorders. You should be devoting more resources and not less.”

School building named for Doherty

Recently, The Taunton School Committee voted on and approved renaming a building located at 66 Summer St. to the Carol A. Doherty Professional Learning Center. The building will be used by Taunton Public Schools as a professional development center.

“Carol Doherty was a champion for education, always striving to provide opportunities for teachers and students alike. It is only fitting that our Professional Learning Center bears her name, ensuring that her dedication to lifelong learning lives on in Taunton,” said John Cabral, Taunton Schools Superintendent, in a written statement after the April 2 School Committee vote.

What also now exists is The Carol Doherty Foundation, which, Sanders said, will offer such things as scholarships for high school students.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton and Easton State Rep. Carol Doherty: Moving tributes at funeral