Don Chaney (Full Obituary)

Donald Price Chaney, Jr. crossed the rainbow on September 13, 2025. Don came into the world on January 23, 1953 in Batesville, Arkansas. As a young child, his family moved from Batesville to Augusta. Don was known to collect turtles in Taylor Bay off the White River in Augusta. Much to his mother’s disbelief, he would put his collected turtles in the family bathtub for safekeeping. Following his father’s passing when he was just 10 years-old, Don’s grandfather, Sterling Harney Chaney of Batesville, instilled a love of duck hunting in Don that he eventually passed down to his two sons. At any point in his life, Don was thrilled to be in the duck woods blowing his feed call, birds circling, the wings of mallards fanning in his face, and looking for bands following the retrieve of a loyal labrador. Don was also known to take a crow shot when things got slow, or impress others close by through using one of many different species of bird calls on his lanyard.

Don moved with his family to Paragould in the mid-1960s. There, Don was a proud member of the Paragould High School Bulldog football team, wherein he formed life-long friendships through the shared misery inflicted by an infamous head coach. After high school, Don attended the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville from 1971-1975. While there, Don formed several other life-long friendships through the Arkansas Alpha-Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Don would also meet the love of his life in college, a Tri-Delta named Terri Moore. Don graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in finance and banking. Don would go onto attend law school at the University of Arkansas, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Arkansas Law Review, earning his law degree in 1978.

Don and Terri married on May 14, 1977. After a brief time in Paragould, Don and Terri made their home in Arkadelphia in 1979, raising their sons Nathan and Taylor on the banks of the Ouachita River. Don would remain in Arkadelphia the rest of his life. There, Don and Bill Wright joined forces to start their own law firm. Don had a deep passion for helping others, which was a guiding principle of his life, and especially his law practice. He would often do legal work in creative ways to accommodate a client’s ability to pay in ways other than just money. One such instance resulted in a deck apparatus on the Ouachita River that still stands today, which had hinges on either side of it to accommodate a dock with an ever-changing river level. Of Don’s many part time jobs, one was a boat dock consultant. Don’s dock was his preferred place to work, and “business meetings” frequently took place in Don’s boat on the river.

To say Don was passionate about his work is the understatement of understatements. Known for his creativity, fairness, and unwavering advocacy, Don often structured his work in ways that reflected compassion as much as legal acumen. Don’s interest in spinal ligament injuries stemmed from his “high school football glory days.” Early in his legal career, Don realized such injuries frequently occur in motor vehicle collisions. Thereafter, Don dedicated his life to representing injured people, hurt through no fault of their own, against “powerful interests.” Don pioneered medical technology tools for use in the courtroom. Don used his law license to make his community a safer place. One example was a case resulting in a railroad crossing being put at the bottom of the hill on 3rd Street near its intersection with Hemphill Road in Arkadelphia.

One of Don’s core beliefs was the right of everyone to receive a fair and impartial jury trial. Don did what he could to ensure his clients received that right. Don served as a Special Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1994, and wrote the opinion in Walker v. First Commercial Bank, N.A., 317 Ark. 617, 880 S.W.2d 316 (1994), which held the appellant was wrongfully deprived of the fundamental right to a jury trial on a lender liability claim as guaranteed by Ark. Const. Art. 2 § 7. Don was a member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers’ Association (“ATLA”) for 40+ years, where he served multiple terms on the Board of Governors, contributed numerous articles to the ATLA Docket legal magazine,  served as program chair for ATLA seminars, was a presenter at continuing legal education classes, and received a Certificate of Merit for outstanding service to ATLA. Don and his trial team received ATLA’s Outstanding Lawyer of the Year award in 2013. For years, Don frequently sponsored a young lawyer to attend ATLA’s annual convention in Eureka Springs, who would have been financially prohibited from attending otherwise. As they grew up, Don and Terri took their sons out of school for two days annually to attend this convention. There, Don enjoyed the family time, the CLE, the vendors, and other events. However, his absolute favorite thing to do at convention was meet new lawyers in the hospitality suite, and help them in any way he could just as others had paid it forward to him when he was a new lawyer. Don was also a longtime sustaining member of the American Association for Justice, and a longtime member of the Arkansas Bar Association, where he served as a member of the House of Delegates at one point, and had several terms as the Chairperson of the Tort Section. Don also served as a Special Clark County District Judge, and was the longtime Chairmen of the Clark County Law Library Committee.

Don was passionate about his community. He learned life lessons through Boy Scouts, which resulted in both Nathan, and his younger son, Taylor, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Don was behind the scenes the whole time, serving as the Troop 24 of Arkadelphia Committee Chairmen for nearly two decades. Don served as the Chairmen of the City of Arkadelphia’s Airport Advisory Committee for nearly 30-years, was part of a group that started the Clark County Community Foundation in 2002, and was a longtime supporter of both the Clark County Historical Foundation and Arkadelphia Badger athletics.

Don was passionate about conservation. He loved being outside, and appreciated the beauty nature had to offer. A favorite hobby was jet-boating up and down the Ouachita River, where he would either spend time with family, fish, or even pull brave souls who dared to water ski or tube. Don had such an aptitude for navigating the river from Friendship to Sparkman that he became known as “the shoal runner” in some circles. Don’s passion for the river led to him being appointed by the Governor to the Ouachita River Commission for several terms. Don was always prepared to do his part to keep the river clean. He kept a pair of clippers in his boat, and frequently brought his chainsaw with him to clear obstacles in the river channel so other boats could pass. Don loved visiting with other boaters and rivergoers, sharing the common interest of “beating the heat,” boat specifications, the need for more gasoline, firearms, fishing, or just lending a helping hand to someone in need. He often could identify the person on the river simply by the make and model of their boat. It was expected that something would go wrong with Don’s boat every third-time or so he took it out. Not to worry, Don knew what to do each and every time something went wrong to get his boat riders home safely or back for dinner on time. Well … maybe not back to dinner on time. Don had a legitimate excuse one time for not getting off the river timely. Well before anyone had a cell phone, Don landed a then world record hybrid striped bass on a four-pound test line. Don’s first cousin, Price Futrell, who witnessed Don catching the bass, knew he was part of the family when he also incurred Terri’s wrath for being late for dinner.

If he was not on the river or working, Don could usually be found “on the farm.” Don was a founding member of the Maddox Branch Hunting Club where he served as the Club’s General Manager and Duck Commander, which involved taking care of Club property, and organizing and leading duck hunts for nearly 25 years for Club members and guests. Don took pride in the Club’s participation in the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program, which involved restoring wetlands by planting several different types of trees. Don was also an avid collector of discarded concrete (among other things), which he used for bank stabilization to prevent river erosion.

A running joke between family and co-workers was the issuance of Don points. Such points could be issued for talking too long, showing up late, telling someone something that they already knew, being a perfectionist, hoarding, giving nonresponsive answers to questions, or using the pronoun “we” when the pronoun “you” is really what is meant. In reality, sincere Don points should be issued for being kind to everyone whether the other person deserves it or not, remembering small details about people’s lives, finding value in others or items someone else may see as unworthy of saving, making friends everywhere you go, helping others with no expectation of anything in return, appearing well in any company, and keeping honor sacred and virtue safe. These were the points that really mattered, and the points Don kept all along.

Above all else, Don was passionate about his family. Don and Terri built a partnership of nearly five decades defined by devotion, laughter, and family. Don and Terri both taught their sons to treat everyone as they would want to be treated regardless of race, religion, creed, or socioeconomic status. Don’s kind heart and capacity for forgiveness were examples not just for his children, but all people. Don took pride in ensuring all of his family were taken care of, and he treated his friends like family and his family like friends. Don’s favorite time in his life was the time spent with his grandsons, providing them with fun activities, exposing them to the outdoors, teaching them about how to do things (and about life), or reading the comic section of the newspaper together. He was the “granddaddy” to his grandsons that his grandfather had been to him.

Don was preceded in death by his father, Donald Price Chaney, Sr.; his mother, Nellwyn Price Chaney; his beloved son, Nathan Price Chaney; his sister, Gay Vaughn and her husband, Marty Vaughn; and nephew, Toby Jefferson Block. Survivors include his loving wife of 48 years, Terri Moore Chaney of Arkadelphia; son Sterling Taylor Chaney (Haley) of Little Rock, and two bonus granddaughters, Clara Burks and Elise Burks; grandsons River Chaney and Carter Chaney of Little Rock; daughter in-law, Hilary Martin Chaney of Little Rock; brother David Sibley of New York, NY; and nephew Chaney Block and family of Miami, FL.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, November 8, 2025 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. at Cedar Lodge in Arkadelphia. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to one of three places. The first is “Justice PAC,” P.O. Box 3486, Little Rock, AR 72203, which is dedicated to preserving the civil justice system in Arkansas, or online at http://www.arktla.org/?pg=IMPACTDonation. The second is to the “Don Chaney Memorial Fund” dedicated to scouting in Arkadelphia, 3220 Cantrel Road, Little Rock, AR 72202, or online at http://www.naturalstatecouncil.org/donchaney. The third is to the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s Gala for Life, 4301 W. Markham St., Slot 716, Little Rock, AR 72205, which is dedicated to advancing cancer care and prevention, or online at cancer.uams.edu/get-involved/donate. All donations to the third option will be matched.