Christine Weiss Daugherty (Roen), 88, of Scott Depot, WV, moved on to her next adventure June 20, 2026. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she was the daughter of Clarence and Shirley Roen and older sister of Valerie and Bruce.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Christine and her family later moved to Santa Cruz, California. Christine enrolled in California State, Berkeley after high school graduation where she met Dr. Bruce Sinclair and had two children, Alan and Margaret. After moving to Kansas where her first marriage to Bruce ended, she later met Dr. Robert “Bob” Weiss. Bob and Chris later moved to Long Island, New York, where Bob taught at C.W. Post University, and Christine worked on developing her own pottery business. Soon after Adam was born, Christine and Bob traveled to West Virginia for a short stint with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). Christine and Robert loved the state and decided to move there with Alan, Margaret, and Adam in 1970.
Bob was teaching at West Virginia State College when Noah arrived in 1974. During their life, Bob and Chris had a passion to serve others, primarily enriching the lives of children and women. Bob loved attending camps as a child, so in 1975, they started Great Oak Farm, a nonprofit camp for low-income Appalachian youth on their farm in Lincoln County. Christine remained active with Great Oak Farm for many years while she worked on her pottery business.
After Alan and Margaret graduated from high school, Chris got the itch to start her own nonprofit venture called Women and Employment. For nine years, she worked to expand career opportunities for women, including women entering nontraditional jobs and building pathways toward economic independence. Her leadership helped the careers, wages, and advancement of women at the center of public conversation and community action.
In 1988, Christine joined the Ms. Foundation for Women as a senior project associate and at the same time, founded Rural Strategies. This was another nonprofit consulting practice focused on rural economic development, nonprofit management, training, strategic planning, mentoring, and proposal writing. Her work reflected both practical skills and commitment to helping communities and small businesses strengthen their impact.
From 1990 to 1993, Christine participated in the Kellogg International Leadership Program, which supported her travel and learning in international settings. She served as interim co-director of the West Virginia University Center for Women’s Studies during the 1992–1993 academic year and earned her Regents B.A. from West Virginia State College in 1994. After Bob passed away from a sudden heart attack in 1991, she managed her grief by focusing on her career and traveling domestically and internationally for work. Christine later married Dr. Charles “Chuck” Daugherty. Christine and Chuck both enjoyed traveling and in 1996, she became senior program advisor to the Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance rural development project in Slovakia. Chuck retired and moved with Christine to Slovakia for three years. After working in Slovakia, Christine continued to work overseas in economic development efforts in Hungary, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, Ghana, India, Kenya, and Tunisia.
After a cancer diagnosis in 2000, Christine and Chuck returned to West Virginia and “mostly” retired with Christine continuing to work as a consultant for various organizations until she finally retired. Christine and Chuck continued to travel and volunteer for various causes such as creating a Sister City partnership between the city of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and Charleston, WV. After Chuck passed in 2019, Christine had numerous health issues that required a team of family support, spearheaded by her son Adam.
Christine was known affectionately as “Gammy”, and she enjoyed sharing stories, offering encouragement, and staying connected to the friends and family she loved. She especially enjoyed teaching her grandchildren about pottery, welcoming them into a tradition that had been part of her own life for decades. Around the pottery wheel, lessons about clay often became conversations about family, creativity, perseverance, travel, and life. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren brought her immense joy, and she treasured family gatherings, conversations, and celebrations large and small. Throughout her life, Christine was recognized as an activist, organizer, mentor, and builder of institutions.
Her papers, preserved by the West Virginia and Regional History Center at West Virginia University, document decades of work in women’s economic development, rural development, nonprofit management, international development, and community organizing. In 2018, the West Virginia Women’s Commission honored her with the Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson Award for lifetime achievement as part of the Legacy of Women Awards.
Christine’s legacy lives on in the communities she strengthened, the organizations she guided, and the countless individuals she encouraged along the way. Her Episcopalian faith was an important and sustaining part of her life, shaping the way she understood service, compassion, and community. She carried that faith quietly but deeply, finding in it both comfort and a call to care for others
Christine is preceded in death by her parents Clarence and Shirley Roen, son Alan Sinclair, husbands Robert “Bob” Weiss, and Charles “Chuck” Daugherty. She is survived by her children Margaret (Schuyler), Noah (Kitty), Adam (Chelsea); her nine grandchildren, Naomi, Jeremy, Bethany, Colleen, Allison, Kate, Jonah, Oliver, and Harrison; her thirteen great-grandchildren, Anna, Molly, Greta, Jenna, Iva-Marie, Emma, James, Caleb, Mellie, Aiden, Katherine, Lily Beth, and Maya; as well as many extended family members, friends, colleagues, and former students and mentees whose lives she touched.
Donations in memory of Christine Weiss Daugherty may be made to Sinclair, Alan Douglas Memorial (tgkvf.org) or WV Women Work (westvirginiawomenwork.org).
The family will hold a celebration of life August 1, 2026, at a location to be determined later.
