The father of James Hughey was Roy Duncan Hughey, born in Asheville on March 31, 1894, the son of James M. and Laura T. Hughey. He was a farmer and a textile worker. Roy married Nellie Gertrude Allison on March 8, 1916, Azalea, NC. They moved to Towanda, Kansas, where they thought the opportunities would be better, but they returned to Asheville after being "wiped out" by the "dust bowl." James Donald Hughey was the first of the four children of Roy and Nellie.
James Donald Hughey was born Nov, 28, 1918, Towanda, Kansas. He graduated from Biltmore Junior College in 1934. He served in World War II in the U.S. Army, receiving his honorable discharge in 1945. His employment included working at the Biltmore Dairies and for Sears, Roebuck and Company, living first in Marion, NC, and then in Hickory, NC from 1950.
In 1947 he married Iris Virginia Ray in Weaverville, NC, on June 28. Their only child was Caroline Jeannette Hughey. Carolyn Jeannette Hughey Lyda was born Oct. 27, 1948 in Marion, but was raised in Hickory. On May 25, 1968 she married Robert Ashley Lyda in Weaverville, NC.
Biography contributed by Mike Le Coney.