PORT ANGELES — The Rev. Kenneth Duane Dooley, former pastor at First United Methodist and Congregational Church in Port Angeles, has died at his home. He was 84.
Pastor Dooley died from pancreatic cancer after fighting it for several years, said his wife, Vivian Dooley.
A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the church, 110 E. Seventh St.
Mrs. Dooley said remembrances can be sent to the church, and memorial donations to church activities and charities can also be made in his name, she said.
Pastor Dooley was born in Horton, Kan., on Nov. 17, 1924.
Met in high school
He met his wife as a senior in high school while living in Los Angeles.
During a phone interview Saturday, Vivian Dooley recalled the moment when her husband proposed to her.
“He asked, ‘Are you willing to be a minister’s wife?'” she said.
“I said, no.”
But Mrs. Dooley changed her mind, and the couple were married in Pasadena, Calif., on June 9, 1944.
“It’s been a wonderful life,” she said.
Mrs. Dooley said she will remember him as “being a loving husband.”
13-year pastor in PA
The Rev. Dooley served as pastor of the First United Methodist and Congregational Church from 1972 to 1985.
After retiring from Ronald United Methodist Church in Shoreline in 1989, he and his wife moved back to Port Angeles.
“Well, we loved it here,” Mrs. Dooley recalled. “We thought this was the place to retire.”
After returning to Port Angeles, Pastor Dooley served eight years on the Port Angeles City Civil Service Commission, for which he was the chairman of for four years.
He spent 11 years as executive secretary of the G.M. Lauridsen Charity Trust Fund.
In April and May 2005, he was interim pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Port Townsend.
In 1968, Pastor Dooley served as a delegate to a conference in Dallas where the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church were merged into the United Methodist Church.
Pastor Dooley is survived by his wife; their children, Terry Dooley of Rancho Cordova, Calif., and Patricia Konrad and Gregory Dooley of Port Angeles; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Drennan-Ford Funeral Home of Port Angeles is in charge of arrangements.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
