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Independent Obituaries: January 21, 2026

The following obituaries and death notices appeared in the January 21, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.

For more area obituaries, please visit Schwab Mortuary.

For more resources including headstones, please visit the Star Valley Historical Society.

 

Anthony Galloway

Anthony Galloway

Anthony Joaquin Galloway was born New Year’s Eve, 1994 in San Bernardino, California. He was a quiet, charming boy more taken to observing than conversing. He aimed to broaden his horizons, trying his hand at new experiences and talents,  both academically and athletically. He proudly served a Latter-day Saint mission to Eugene, Oregon and returned to complete degrees from the College of Eastern Idaho and Western Governor’s University. In his youth, he was devoted to Tae Kwon Do and football, but he never lost his boyhood love of baseball, and attended regular games with his family. He leaves behind his wife Rachel, his sons Elijah and Asher, his parents Tiana and Jacob, and siblings Shanelle, Rylee, Nicole, Faye, Morgan, and Harrison. May he find peace in his eternal slumber.

A private family memorial will be held.

 

Mary Koch

Mary Ruth Koch

Mary Ruth Grellinger was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 8, 1948 to Alvin and Ruth Grellinger. Mary met Chris Koch, also from the Milwaukee area and they were married on June 7, 1970. They moved to and made a home in Jackson Wyoming in 1972 where they welcomed their son Rhett in January 1976 and their daughter Hanna in May 1977. As a family they spent most of their time outdoors up the Gros Ventre, in the Grand Tetons and riding motorbikes and horses. She always said she was a city girl, but she rolled with it and rolled with it well.

While living in Jackson, Mary worked for St. John’s Hospital and Teton County School District. She made lifetime friends at both. Mary was also a very devoted catholic and an active member of the Our Lady of the Mountains community. She found love, peace and friendship within those walls.

In 1995 after both her children had graduated from high school, Mary moved back to Pewaukee Wisconsin to be closer to her siblings. She continued to work in childcare until 2005.

Hanna moved to Wisconsin to live with her in 2000 where their relationship blossomed and built a love and connection only a mother and daughter understand. They did everything together from Brewers games to Packer games and every thing in between. After Hanna moved back to Wyoming, their relationship never changed and they were partners in crime until the end.

Mary was blessed to have two best friends in her children. Her son was her pride and joy and they were close since the minute he was born. They talked every single day and when she moved back to Wyoming in 2020 she made sure that they had lunch or dinner twice a week.

Mary then became a centerpiece of the tribe that helped raise the love of her life, Coby Jase Peterson. They loved each other to the moon and back. They spent every other day together for two years playing cuddling, and causing their own forms of mischief. The bond of the only grandchild and grandma that is unbreakable.  Once Coby started school they would have play dates and sleepovers, their love was unconditional.

She was a good mom. Loving and kind and fierce and strong. She put her children first and her grandson at the top. She gave as much as she could and always wanted to give us more than she had. Mary passed at home peacefully on December 17 of 2025.

The Saturday before Mary passed she got to spend time in Hoback with her family celebrating Coby’s birthday. She even had a spotted cow! Iykyk.

She was proceeded in death by her parents, Alvin and Ruth Grellinger, brothers Mike and John Grellinger and sister Susan Arisman.

She is survived by her son, Rhett (Cherie) Koch, daughter Hanna (Justin) Peterson and her pride and joy Coby, sister Cile Cunningham, many nieces and nephews ex-husband Chris Koch, and seven animal grand babies

She will be cremated and ashes buried in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in her honor to the Alpine library.

The family would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to her friend and neighbor, Michelle Terry.

“The best feeling in the world is knowing, your presence and your absence both mean something to someone “

~Come home good~

And as always GO PACK GO.

 

Nicholas Bringhurst

Nick Bringhurst

Nick: Go Big or Go Home

Nick loved his belt buckle that says COWBOY UP. On a casual day, he might wear his hat that says PARTY TIME. To Nick, there was no excuse to not be good and have fun. Let us remember this remarkable man, and embody his example of dedication and love. The world is lesser without Nick in it, and we love him very much.

Nick is someone that everyone looked up to, both in physical stature and moral strength. Being around Nick meant doing the right thing because Nick only knew one way to be: passionate, pure, and good. To know Nick was to be included in his enthusiasm for adventure, and to be charmed by his contagious smile. In every endeavor that Nick pursued, he did so with quality and passion. Nick was his best when he was in motion, planning the next excursion, or working with his hands. When there was an adventure to be had, it was impossible for him to sit idle. It’s hard not to love someone who was so clearly alit with life, and he made friends everywhere he went.

Nicholas Matthew Bringhurst was born on September 28, 1994 in American Fork, Utah to parents Matt and Cindy Bringhurst. He graduated from Springville High School in 2013 and graduated Utah Valley University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2022. He grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a mission in Boston, Massachusetts. He spent his summers river guiding on the Colorado River, where he met his sweetheart Lauren. He was married to his wife, Lauren McBride Bringhurst, on August 28, 2021.

Nick passed away in the way he always said he would go, in a very big way. Nick was caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling with one of his best friends and died at age 31 on January 11, 2026. He is survived by his wife Lauren McBride Bringhurst, his parents Matt and Cindy Bringhurst, his in-laws Jerod and Sarah McBride, his grandparents Doug and Sharon Bringhurst & Richard and Norma Graham, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and many friends. We are so blessed to have known him. He will be greatly missed.

From the moment Nick’s parents knew that he was joining the family, he was loved. Matt and Cindy feel so blessed to have had such an exemplary son. He was a dedicated and loving husband to Lauren, and he showed his love to her every day. As true partners, Lauren and Nick built a home of comfort and love that displayed their passion for each other and the outdoors. Nick proposed to Lauren with a ring box he carved himself, made of wood that Lauren brought him from a river trip—acacia wood, known for its strength. He welded, sanded, and finished their dining table by hand. This was how Nick loved, by dedicating his time and talents with an abundance of care.

Nick was a great friend and family member to all those that were lucky enough to know him. He exuded a fierceness of love that was only matched by his ardent loyalty. In the same way that he was known for putting his whole self into anything he tried, he could be counted on to do anything at any time for any one of his people. To be able to trust Nick was a gift, an unshakable belief that he was there for whatever may come. Nick was steadying and sure, smart enough to solve your problems and funny enough to make you laugh while you were going through them.

Nick had a deep connection to the outdoors, and found worship when he was connected to the land. He loved many places, but he felt most at home in the rivers and mountains of Utah and Wyoming. To Nick, there is purity in outdoor sport, a holiness in a perfect powder turn or in the whole-hearted commitment of kayaking a class V rapid. He had a talent for everything he tried, and excelled in countless outdoor pursuits. He loved being outside with Lauren as well as snowmobiling, golfing, skiing, rafting, kayaking, wake surfing, mountain biking, spear fishing, and hunting.

Nick embodied the constancy and strength of the rivers he loved. Like the Colorado River, he was an oasis in the desert, leaving places better, more full of life. Like the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers to form Cataract Canyon, the combination of Nick’s fierce care with Lauren’s kindness formed a powerful and beautiful love that blessed the lives of many. Behind him Nick has left a canyon of loss, and we will miss him forevermore.

A viewing will be held for Nicholas on Friday, January 16, 2026 from 6:00-8:00 in the evening with an additional viewing on Saturday, January 17 from 9:00-10:30 in the morning at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church at 1785 E 400 S in Springville, Utah. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 17th at 11 AM at the same location. Internment will occur immediately following at the Springville Evergreen Cemetery. Please wear your bolo ties, boots, or cowboy hats if you have them..

For those who feel compelled, Nick’s family is requesting donations to the Utah Avalanche Center and the Star Valley Search and Rescue. They give their gratitude to the Star Valley Search and Rescue team for bringing him home.

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