Obituary | George Doty, Catholic philanthropist
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
RYE, N.Y. -- Catholic philanthropist George Doty, a member of the Knights of Malta, died April 24 in New York at age 94. No cause of death was given. His funeral was scheduled for April 30 at Church of the Resurrection in Rye.
Also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, Doty helped temper the centuries-long conflict between the Franciscans, Armenians and Greek Orthodox who hold joint custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem -- believed to rest on the spot where Jesus was buried following His crucifixion -- to get the church's damaged dome repaired and restored.
In 1995 Doty and his wife, Marie, gave the basilica custodians $5 million to help with the restoration. The restored dome features a clear center through which the sun streams. Exploding from it are 12 sunlit rays of gold for the Twelve Apostles, each ray with three streams of light for the Trinity, against an off-white background studded with stars.
The Dotys subsidized the work of Bethlehem University, the only Catholic institution of higher education in the Holy Land. They supported the Catholic Near East Welfare Association's housing renovation program in Jerusalem's Old City section, invested in CNEWA's labor-intensive program in the West Bank and provided funds to build and equip playgrounds and related facilities in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza.
Born Feb. 15, 1918, Doty graduated from Fordham University in New York in 1938 and eventually became chairman of the school's board of trustees. He was a managing partner in the Goldman Sachs investment firm until his retirement in 1984.
Marie Doty died in 2008. Survivors include five children, 16 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and a sister.
