Father, son mirrored in life and death

Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998 | 10:45 a.m.

In the mid-1950s, Union Carbide Chemicals was forced to shut down one of its California plants for three days because of a mechanical problem that the company's top engineers were unable to resolve.

John Doty Jr., a plant janitor who during the Korean War had worked with oxygen products and was quite handy with machinery, told the superintendent of the company that he thought he had spotted the problem and could fix it.

"The superintendent didn't want the guy who swept out the place fooling around with the machinery, but he gave John a chance to explain his solution," said Bob Frazier, John's cousin. "The problem was fixed, the plant was reopened and John's career took off after that."

In a 30-year career, Doty climbed to senior regional advisor and opened or operated more than two dozen Union Carbide plants worldwide. When he retired 1986, he came to Las Vegas and opened Able John's Lawn Care, which still operates today.

Perhaps John's proudest accomplishment was the birth of his only son, John Doty III, in 1960. Their lives mirrored each other in many ways.

John III learned the lawn care business from his dad and long operated his own small Las Vegas landscaping operation. Boasting similar mechanical skills as his dad, John III graduated No. 1 in his class at Lincoln Tech Trade School in New Jersey.

They mirrored each other not only in life, but also in death. John Delmar Doty Jr. died Monday at Sunrise Hospital, 14 days after his son died in his Las Vegas home. John Jr. was 67. John III was 37. The family asked that the causes not be published. The father died after a brief illness, the son after a lengthy illness, the family said.

Services for John Doty Jr. will be 6 p.m. today at the Apostolic Church of Las Vegas, 1665 Lindell Road, the site of his son's funeral on Aug. 8.

"Johnny always tried to be as good as his father in whatever he tried," said Betty Jean Doty, John III's mother and John Jr.'s wife. "But jobs like his dad had, where you started at the bottom and worked your way to the top, just don't exist anymore. It's so hard to start from scratch today, but Johnny tried."

The Rev. Steve Stoltzfus, pastor of the Apostolic Church and a longtime friend of the Dotys, said that if any family can survive the tragedy of losing two key members within two weeks of each other, this clan of great faith can.

"John and his son had a strong, close relationship," Stoltzfus said. "When young John became ill, he relied on his father, who helped him through his illness. When his son died, John Jr. used that same strength to help the rest of the family deal with young John's loss, even though he also was very ill."

Survivors include John Jr.'s daughters (John III's sisters) Sharon Morrison and Kelly Basham, both of Las Vegas; John Jr.'s brother, Spencer Doty of Hamilton; John Jr.'s four sisters; Doris Conyers and Jane Fowler, both of Hamilton, La Verne Schulte of Bonita Springs, Fla., and Evelyn Earp of Upper Marlboro, Md.; and John Jr.'s four grandchildren, Charles Zohlmann of Indiatlantic, Fla., Michael Zohlmann of Jean and Dillon Basham and Amanda Basham, both of Las Vegas.

archive