Was married to Alice (Dungey) Chaney. First child of Tom Dungy and Julia.
Alice died during childbirth, and Alton ended up moving away with their young son to start a new life. The family lost touch. As Ada became an adult, she felt bad that she couldn’t help Alton. She missed her older sister terribly and wished she could help her posthumously. She worked hard to find Alton and her nephew, but never did even find a lead before her passing.
Around 2006, after getting on Ancestry.com to explore our family tree, George Allen (Ada’s grandson) met a woman in Gold Hill that had done extensive research on the Dungeys. She was not family, but was very cooperative and soon introduced him to a cousin living nearby in the Portland area who had worked with her on the tree for some time. The cousin was most welcoming and invited George to a reunion they had planned. She opened the invite to other family members as well.
George’s mother, Marvene, and his two sisters decided to attend and were gathered together the night before, when Marvene asked who was this side of the family we would be meeting? George got out the tree, having little name familiarity with our grandmother’s generation, and showed the group the connection. To everyone’s surprise, especially Marvene’s who had taken her mother, Ada, on several searching trips, this cousin was a descendant of the lost Alton Chaney’s son. Although Alton and his son had both passed, Marvene felt she had fulfilled her mother, Ada’s wish and completed the circle. Tears came to her eyes as she was likely looking up to her mother in rejoice!