Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023 - 32

Legends of the PCSO
Harry and longtime faculty member Keith Tanaka
drinking coffee, a neighbor saw him and called
the authorities, claiming he was a draft dodger.
Government officials showed up in short order
and took him to Long Beach for further questioning.
He spent hours defending himself and
having his identity and service verified by the
Long Beach hospital staff who had treated him,
after which he was released. He was miles from
home and dressed in his pajamas and bathrobe,
and he had to hitchhike back to Hollywood from
Long Beach.
Harry attended Los Angeles City College after the
war. It is there where he met Mary Nibecker, who
would later become his wife. Surprisingly, Mary's
mother Katharine did not care much for her suitor.
During the school break summers, Harry would
return to Central America to spend time with his
now ailing father and healthy mother in Bandera,
Guatemala. While there, he would work alongside
the local physician Dr. Aguilar, taking care of sick
children as he had done in Okinawa. Returning to
Los Angeles in the fall of 1947, he was grief stricken
to find out that Mary had left Los Angeles for a
four-year college. Unable to find her whereabouts
from their mutual friends, he sat in Mary's mother's
living room for three days before she would tell
him that Mary had been accepted and was attending
the UC Berkeley. The following year, Harry
enrolled in Berkeley, attending on the GI bill. While
living in the International House, Harry reunited
Harry and his son Hap Dougherty
with Mary, and they married when they graduated
from UC Berkley in 1952.
After receiving his bachelor's degree at Berkeley,
Harry stayed on to receive a master's degree in
anatomy. Meanwhile, Harry proceeded to research
the role of folic acid in human growth and
development. Subsequently, Harry applied and
was accepted to medical school at the University
of California, San Francisco, but later transferred
to the dental school with the opportunity to be
accepted into the Curriculum II program, where
he trained in dentistry and orthodontics, concurrently.
While in dental school, Harry taught the
anatomy course to his fellow dental students,
was an OKU Honor Fraternity, a member of the
Psi Omega Fraternity, and president of his dental
class.
During his junior year, the first of his five children
was born. His second son was born just after his
graduation, and his third child and first daughter
the following year. His third son and second daughter
were born several years later.
Harry and Mary returned to Los Angeles with
their young family and lived with Mary's parents
Katharine and Russell Nibecker. Harry worked with
Russell at Paramount Studios as a carpenter while
waiting for his dental license. Harry had worked as
a carpenter during his summers in dental school
32
PCSO Bulletin Summer 2023
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023
