Who we are - The Doughfellow
I’m a small-town kid from Manchester who watched the towers fall in New York and forged a lifelong drive to help others. That drive carried me into the Navy, where I served alongside and in support of SOCOM while forward deployed throughout the Middle East. Qualifying with SEAL Team 5 as an Expeditionary Warfare Specialist remains one of the proudest moments of my life… but not the greatest.
The greatest has been discovering the joy of cultures, cuisines, and stories different from my own. Finding the fusion between them. Bringing smiles to the people I feed. Traveling exposed me to flavors, traditions, and passions from all over the world (here’s looking at you, Ninja). When I retired, I knew the next chapter had to continue that act of service.
I may no longer serve the country, but I’ll never lose the passion for serving the people who make it up. We are the world’s greatest melting pot, built by countless cultures coming together into something truly unique. This bakery is my love of cooking, fusion, and fellowship brought home, where I can impact my community directly.
The greatest moments of my career were never medals or milestones, they were the times I helped people without recognition or gain. During hurricane disaster relief, watching communities rebuild with the help of strangers… that fulfillment meant more than any assignment with the teams.
The Doughfellow isn’t just a name. It’s the embodiment of looking past the noise and remembering we are better when we work together, for each other, as fellows in this great race of life. I hope you leave here today with the same smile I’ve seen on countless faces, and maybe a deeper sense of how much impact even a single loaf can make.
Godspeed, Fellows.
The Heart of it All - Mrs. Doughfellow
Born and raised in New Franklin, Mrs. Doughfellow is the magic ingredient that makes all of this possible.
She grew up at her grandmother’s side. A woman the whole community lovingly knew as Grandma Doughboy. For years, Grandma Doughboy baked in Portage Lakes, filling kitchens, hearts, and neighborhoods with the kind of warmth only a seasoned baker can create.
If you ever drove past her house, the one with the giant Doughboy tree carvings next to the local ice cream parlor, you knew instantly you were somewhere special. You were home. And once you stepped inside, you were fed, hugged, and sent back out into the world with a full belly and the same question everyone asked:
“How does she do it?”
Some of that magic - the art, the passion, the love baked into every crumb - found its way into our kitchen the minute she picked up where her grandmother left off. She learned by icing cakes with Grandma’s guiding hands, helping with designs, and being the “little helper” who absorbed the craft without even trying.
And then she met The Doughfellow.
Two high school kids, one spark, and for her it was finally someone who made her feel the way Grandma’s kitchen always had:
Safe. Warm. Home.
When he enlisted, she followed. Not because she had to, but because that piece of home had to go with him. And while he was out in the desert, fighting wars on the other side of the world, she was back at base housing, feeding their growing family… and all the friends who became family along the way. No one ever left her table hungry or unseen.
This bakery wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t needed a new direction; a new way to serve. And she wouldn’t be able to honor her grandmother so boldly if their paths hadn’t wound together the way they did.
What began as a fun project, a little experiment, a little therapy, a little joy, quickly became something they both needed more than they realized.
He needed purpose.
She needed connection… a way to stay tied to the family she lost while they were away.
Together, they built something beautiful.
Something warm.
Something that carries the legacy of Grandma Doughboy, the strength of service, and the simple truth that home isn’t a place - it’s the people who feed you, love you, and lift you up.
Mrs. Doughfellow is that home.
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