“When I think about growing up in Devine, all I ever wanted to do was leave,” says Scott Dougherty, DHS 1991 graduate. He admits that in his childhood, he did love Devine’s small town, tight-knit community; however, “like many 17-year-olds that don’t know much better, I felt like I needed to get away.” But, he then laments, “I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to get back.”
It took only a year attending college in North Carolina that Scott realized how homesick he was and how much he loved Texas. He spent another year at U of H before settling at Lamar University in Beaumont. It is there that he would spend the next twelve years.
Following college, Scott began working at Exxon/Mobil refinery. His job was helping as a “turnaround,” and he adds, “Little did I know that with some help from Mrs. Miller’s trigonometry, I would soon become a pipe fabricator and ultimately wind up in Project Controls.” (Perhaps that disproves the widely-held belief that trigonometry is never used in real life!)
When Hurricane Rita struck the Beaumont area in 2005, Scott’s children’s school was severely damaged, so he relocated to Devine for the next eight weeks. His daughters, Darian and Allison, stayed with his parents from September until Christmas break and attended school in Devine Elementary. Scott says that it was then that he began trying to relocate permanently to Devine, “recognizing that it would be better for my girls to grow up in such a great town,” he explains.
Unfortunately, Scott found that the job opportunities in the field of Petrochemical industry are not as plentiful in San Antonio as in the gulf coast. He did, however, interview with Zachry in San Antonio, and from that interview, in 2007, he was offered a job with them near Alvin, Texas. He took the job, pleased that it was far enough from Houston to be a good choice for his daughters to attend school.
So, Scott made the decision to move to Alvin, and there he has remained. He found that Alvin reminds him of Devine, albeit much larger. His oldest daughter, Darian, graduated from Alvin High School in 2016. And although Scott was not able to relocate to Devine due to employment, he is pleased that his second daughter, Allison, will graduate with the Devine Class of 2017. He affirms, “I believe she will be better for it.”
Scott worked with Zachry in Project Controls until earning the Project Controls Manager position in 2013. Then, in 2014, he left Zachry for a position as Project Controls Manager with Cajun Industrial Design and Construction. He remains employed with them at this time.
It was in 2013 that Scott met Michelle Schiff. The two plan to be married on July 1, 2017. Michelle was raised in Texas, but she lived in New York until 2010 when she returned with her children. Scott’s and Michelle’s marriage will bring together his two daughters – Darian (age 18) and Allison (age 17) – and her four children – Ryan (age 23), Sarah (age 21), Emma (age 17), Anna (age 13), and one grandchild, Baby Carina. After their marriage, the couple will honeymoon in Dublin, Ireland.
Scott shares, “Our first date was a private show I invited her to watch as I played with the band I was currently in. We almost immediately fell in love.” He goes on to explain that the two of them share a love for music, and for that reason they have traveled to such exotic venues as Scotland to watch Eric Clapton, to Chicago to watch Foo Fighters, to San Francisco to watch Matt Andersen, to Cleveland to visit the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and to many more shows in New York on Broadway. As an aside, he adds, “It helps tremendously that Michelle works for United Airlines.”
In addition to attending music events all over the world, traveling for Scott and Michelle affords other amusements, such as people watching. Scott elaborates, “For instance, while in Scotland, we went to a pub that had a karaoke singer that did an excellent [improvisation of] Johnny Cash. We also enjoy going to the grocery stores and talking to locals about foods they purchase and cook. And, of course, everyone loves the fact that we are from Texas. People from other countries LOVE Texas…. Some of them still think we’re all cowboys.”
Scott adds that in his spare time, “what little of it there is,” he enjoys golfing, fishing, and playing music, a passion he has had since he was in high school. Back then, he played with a band, The King Beez, a group that has been recently reunited. And Scott visits Devine from time to time where he still has family members: his parents, Ed and Sandy, and his brothers, Damon and David, and their families.