Erroll Arthur “Dude” Cheney, passed away Feb. 28, 2023, in hospice in Plainfield, Indiana.
Erroll was born Aug. 11, 1942, to Arthur and Virginia Cheney, in Los Angeles, California. Erroll grew up attending schools in Southeast Los Angeles and graduated from Huntington Park High School in 1960. He married Janelle Heaps Cheney on Sept. 24, 1961, at South Gate, California, and they raised two daughters, Renee and Wendy.
Following two years at East Los Angeles College, he attended Cal State Los Angeles. Upon graduation with a degree in marketing, he was recruited by Fleetwood Recreational Vehicles to work in El Monte, California, as a trainee in the purchasing department. He began his 32-year career with Fleetwood on May 20, 1968.
Renee Maree was 4 years old and Wendy Anne was 7 months when, in September 1969, the family left Southern California to drive to Edgerton, Ohio, where Erroll was transferred as purchasing manager of the Fleetwood Terry travel trailer plant. In November 1971, he became manager of the new Wilderness travel trailer plant in Merced, California, and became manager in Rialto, California, in 1980 and eventually moved to the corporate offices in Riverside, California.
In 1996, Erroll was sent to Crawfordsville as manager of the Fleetwood Travel Trailer plant. He said he would be in Crawfordsville for four years and we would return to the family in California. God had other plans. Before his retirement in November 2000, Wendy and Bill Wagner and Ashlyn moved to Crawfordsville in September 1998. A few years later, Alexandra and Mia were born in Crawfordsville. Renee and Rich Huss and Darien, Tanner and Kalina arrived in Crawfordsville in September 1999. During these years Erroll and Janelle traveled to special places in the United States, eventually visiting each state.
Erroll always had an excellent work ethic that started with his newspaper route at 10 years old, and as a teenager he was a dishwasher in a Mexican restaurant and a gas station attendant. In later years, he maintained his yard with perfection.
All who knew Erroll were aware of his love for hunting … he displayed deer, elk and antelope … But his greatest love was hunting waterfowl, especially geese. His many stories covered several trips to Argentina, Paraguay and Canada as well as trips to various places in the United States. He also loved introducing young boys to hunting waterfowl, including his two grandsons, Darien and Tanner. He was a member of Ducks Unlimited.
He also loved special cars and owned a Corvette, Scarab, a red Porsche, a ‘32 Ford Vicky among others throughout the years. He enjoyed NASCAR racing and was friends with local drivers from Merced and Crawfordsville. Through Erroll’s varied interests, he had many friends and their common recollection is “hours of laughter” with him.
Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s took his “short-term” memory but he retained the many wonderful “long-term” memories with family and friends. Special thanks to his good friend, Jeff Myers, for keeping him active.
Surviving family members are his wife, Janelle Cheney; two daughters, Renee Waymon (Kenny) and Wendy Wagner (Bill); six grandchildren, Darien Huss (Lyndsey), Tanner Huss (Taylor), Kalina Chew (Tad), Ashlyn Froedge (Justin), Alexandra Bittinger (Trey) and Mia Wagner; and five great-grandsons, Jeremiah, Will, Clark, Murphy and Amos. He is also survived by brothers, Randy (Joan), Jim, Danny, Brian (Linda), Scott and sister Ellen Powell.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Mike and Tim. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews. They and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren remember lots of fun times with Erroll “teasing” them.
Services will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, March 27 at Rock Point Church, with Pastor Terry Thompson officiating.
Visitation will be from 4 p.m. until the time of the service at 6 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to The Gathering Together Hospice Facility, 147 N. Center St., Plainfield, IN 46168 (www.thegatheringtogether.org).
Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.huntandson.com.
