The vision that brothers B.B. and D.D. Dougherty had when they created what now is Appalachian State University has been fulfilled by people like Etta Lee Triplett Idol, who died Dec. 7 at age 98. The Dougherty brothers, born and raised in Boone, dreamed of improving educational opportunities for children of their region by establishing an institution of higher learning to produce teachers for the public schools. Itâs clear in a 2015 recorded interview with Appalachian representatives that Etta understood at the time the great opportunity her uncle provided when he paid the schoolâs $64 quarterly tuition for her in the early 1940s. She was a diligent student.