Gloria Ann Chaney was born on January 21, 1956, in Beaumont, Texas. During her childhood she learned to play the piano, attended dance classes, and twirled. Sometime in there she became the “big sister” to Martha and Ray. She loved playing mom as she was almost ten years their senior. She learned to bake from her grandmother and that carried into her adulthood as she loved to cook or bake from scratch. She and Martha roomed together and she wasn’t exactly the neat freak, but Martha was. One Saturday morning Gloria just wouldn’t get up, and Martha had things to do so she started making the bed. She woke up and messed up the bed at which the little one told on her. When Gloria began making the bed, Martha then decided it was her time for payback, only to be told that now she would have to make up the bed.
Gloria definitely was NOT a morning person. Every morning our father would announce “good morning”, at which she would grumble. One morning she thought she would be smart and say “good morning” to dad, at which dad replied, “See that didn’t hurt so much now did it.”
She loved her role as a big sister and would always pull rank whenever possible. One of the great things she did was invite her sister and brother to Houston to spend a week during the summer, where they got to stay at her apartment and provide free maid service. After she got off work, she would have all kinds of activities, from baseball games, to the latest movie, dinners, or just chilling.
She was confirmed in her faith in 1969, and stayed very active in her church, playing hand bells, joining organizations, attending Bible Studies, and organizing fundraisers for the youth. One year she decided to direct a Christmas Program, and she planned it to the minute detail. When she had an idea, she wouldn’t stop until the job was complete.
She graduated from Forest Park High School in 1973, and attended Lamar University where she graduated with an Associate Degree in Office Management. While going to Lamar she worked for Beaumont Well Works and upon graduation, transferred to Houston. Her time away from “home” gave our family many opportunities as she became a huge Houston Oiler fan our family could find ourselves going to at least one game a year. Her work on committees with the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo also got our family tickets to some great concerts, especially George Strait. To say she was a George Strait fan would be an understatement. This fact is evident when you walk into her house, as a sign in her kitchen reads, “If you aren’t God or George Strait, please remove your boots.”
While in Houston, she gave birth to the joy of her life, a son, Dustin Ray Chaney, and she lived her life for him. She treasured his successes, but more than that, there was a cross that he gave her and she would never take off. Small as it was, this would be her most prized possession. She was a “Team Mom” for almost every team that Dustin joined. She moved Dustin back home to Lumberton in 1995, for a slower paced life. It is here that she would teach Dustin how to dance, and he became her favorite dance partner. They would go to the Crescent Club to dance on Friday nights. She continued to be stay very active in Dustin’s life, so much so that his friends became her extended family as “the boys” would call her “mom”. This didn’t stop when Dustin graduated from High School. When he made the decision to join the Marines, young men in the different platoons would end up calling her “mom” as well. To get support for her son and others fighting for our country she worked to start the Women’s Auxiliary of the Lumberton American Legion. As she did for church, she would throw herself into this endeavor. While Dustin was in the military he would marry and then become the father of two beautiful daughters. Her energy was now geared toward her granddaughters and making sure that they knew their Lord and Savior as she had done for Dustin.
In 2009, she would find out that her only child had congestive heart failure, and this would create a new mission in her life, helping Veteran’s with Invisible Wounds of War, in particular PTSD. Nine short months after finding out Dustin’s problem, he died, and her heart broke. After his death she changed her focus to her granddaughters, Brailee and Kenzlee, but she would never get over the death of her only son.
Gloria is survived by her mother, Beverly Linscomb of Lumberton; granddaughters, Brailee and Kenzlee Chaney of Beaumont; sister, Martha Scott of Vidor; brother, Ray Linscomb, Jr. and his wife, Michele of New Windsor, Maryland; and nieces and nephews, John Scott and his wife, Shelby and Ann Scott all of Vidor and William and Sarah Linscomb of New Windsor, Maryland. She is preceded in death by her son, Dustin Ray Chaney and her father, Anthony Ray Linscomb, Sr.
Her funeral service will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 22, 2011, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 2711 Helena Avenue in Nederland under the direction of Broussard’s, 490 Cemetery Road, Silsbee with burial to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Beaumont. A gathering of her family and friends will be Friday, October 21, 2011, 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Broussard’s.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Gloria’s memory to; Chaney’s Girls, 4101 W. Green Oaks Blvd. #305-414, Arlington, Texas 76016; Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 2711 Helena Avenue, Nederland, Texas 77627; or Invisible Wounds of War (I.W.O.W.), P.O. Box 8959, Lumberton, Texas 77657.
