Wilbur Dungy, Tony’s father graduated from Jackson High School in Jackson, Michigan in 1943. After graduation he served in the segregated U.S. Army during World War II. Following the war Wilbur Dungy attended Jackson Community College (JCC) and then went to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. In 1952 Wilbur returned to JCC as a teacher. Wilbur Dungy was a biology professor for more than 30 years at Jackson Community College. He was the first Black instructor at this college back in 1953. Dungy earned a doctorate in 1967 but asked people not to call him “doctor.” That would be too showy.
Descendants were aware Dungy served in the U.S. Army; however, his son Tony and his siblings discovered their father was part of the Famed Tuskegee Airmen at his celebration of life.