Early Life
Dunham was born in Wichita, Kansas, the younger of two sons to Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham, Sr. (December 25, 1894, Sumner County, Kansas - October 4, 1970, Wichita, Kansas) and Ruth Lucille Armour (September 1, 1900, Illinois - November 25, 1926, Wichita, Kansas). His father's ancestors settled in Kempton, Indiana in the 1840s, before relocating to Kansas. His parents were married on October 3, 1915 at a home on South Saint Francis St. in Wichita, and opened The Travelers' Cafe on William St. situated between the old firehouse and the old Wichita City Hall.
On November 25, 1926, at age 8, Dunham discovered his mother's body after she had committed suicide. Following his mother's suicide, his father placed Stanley and his older brother Ralph Emerson Dunham, Jr. in the care of their maternal grandparents in El Dorado, Kansas. A rebellious teenager, Stanley allegedly punched his high school principal and spent some time drifting, hopping rail cars to Chicago, then California, then back again. Dunham married Madelyn Lee Payne on May 5, 1940, the night of Madelyn's senior prom.
Read more about this topic: Stanley Armour Dunham
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