The following obituaries appeared in the January 3, 2024 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.

Nola Longhurst

Our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Nola Crook Longhurst, passed away peacefully surrounded by her husband and sons December 28, 2023 in Lindon, Utah. She was born March 11, 1932, to Harvey Orson Crook and Rosella Mallory. She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Bob; sisters, Theda Kirkland and Evelyn (Russ) Stuart; her four sons, Regan (Jill), Nyle (Tana), Mark (Carolyn), and Max (Shana), fourteen grandchildren, and 16 great grandchildren. Nola was preceded in death by her parents Harvey and Rosella Crook and grandson Eric Longhurst.

Nola was born and raised in Smoot, Wyoming and graduated from Star Valley High School in 1950. She helped with the farm work and rode a horse over to the hill to milk cows in the summer. She attended LDS Business College and Utah State University where she met Bob Longhurst in 1952. They were married April 11, 1954 in the Logan temple and have spent 69 wonderful years together. They went to Fort Belvoir in Virginia as newlyweds then Nola returned home while Bob was stationed in Korea. They moved to Shelley, Idaho, where they raised their family of 4 boys. In 2002, they sold the ranch in Shelley and moved to Star Valley for the summers and St. George for the winters, where she was fond of going to the temple and serving as a missionary.

She was a mom who loved and cared for her children and stayed up late at night walking the floors and worrying when they were sick.  As a spectator, she attended and cheered at many sporting events in which her sons participated. She made sure her sons were involved in many activities and shuttled them to and from 4-H, sports, scouting, and educational events. She loved to cook and made wonderful meals that her family enjoyed.

Nola was proud of her pioneer ancestry and the wonderful examples of her parents teaching and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She was passionate about her family history and loved to connect with her ancestors by writing their stories. She wanted to preserve their memories and wanted to make connections to everyone she met. Many enjoyable reunions were spent learning about her wonderful heritage. She was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She learned at the hands of her parents how to trust God and rely upon Him. She taught this to her children and helped them to pray and to trust that there was a God in heaven. She served as a Blazer Leader, dance director, Primary teacher, Young Women’s counselor, Homemaking counselor in the Relief Society, Stake Young Women’s counselor, and girl’s camp director.

A viewing will be held the evening of January 3, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Northridge Stake Center at 1674 North 200 West, Orem, Utah. The funeral service to honor her life will be held the next day, January 4, in Star Valley, Wyoming in the Smoot Ward Building at 3166 State Hwy 241, Smoot, Wyoming at 1:00 p.m. preceded by a viewing from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Following the services, interment will be in the Smoot Cemetery. Condolences may be sent online to the family at Schwabmortuary.com.

Tina Luthi

Tina Marie Luthi was born June 9, 1960, in Seattle, Washington, to Kirk Don Luthi and Genell Genevieve (Leavitt) Luthi. Tina passed away peacefully but unexpectedly in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on December 21, 2023, after a very brief illness. She made her home in Auburn.

Tina was previously married to Michael Gumm, of Oregon, and to Jimmy Stoker, of Thayne.

During her early life, Tina and her brothers, Kirk Gregson Luthi and Robert Ryan Luthi, lived with her parents in Ogden, Utah; New Orleans, LA; the “Space Coast” of Florida, and in the Seattle area, as her father transferred to various work positions for the Boeing Company. She graduated from Kentridge High School, in Kent, Washington, in 1978. Tina excelled in athletics (softball, volleyball, soccer and basketball), playing girls’ basketball—both in high school and in church leagues.

As an adult, Tina moved with her growing family to Star Valley, settling in Thayne in the 1980s. Her parents had retired “back home” to the Valley, in Freedom. Tina’s three children—Heidi, Jenny and David—all attended SVHS and were active in sports and horsemanship.

Tina was known as a very hard worker, a wonderful cook and a loyal and loving friend to many. She spent years working at Valley Market and helping residents in the Lower Valley.  She loved cutter-racing (rarely ever missing a race), round-ups, working horses and ranching, hunting and fishing, and just being in the outdoors with her family and friends.

Tina is survived by her children, Heidi Marie Wollebaek, of Spanish Fork, Utah; Genevieve (Jenny) Giles of Thayne, Wyoming; and David Kyle Luthi of West Valley, Washington. She is also survived by her two brothers, a foster sister and brother (LuAnn and David Stokke) and six grandchildren, whom she loved very much and was very proud of. Her family was everything to her.

Tina is preceded in death by her parents, Kirk and Genell Luthi.

A celebration of Tina’s life will be planned for the spring/summer of 2024, when family and friends can gather.

May Baker

Nellie May (Horner) Baker died on December 31, 2023 from complications of pneumonia.  She was born in Reston Manitoba Canada on July 26, 1923 to the parents of George Horner and Eva Beatrice Greenlay and had four brothers.  She married Ben Batenchuk and moved to Los Angeles California where she raised her children Ray & Sandy.  She then later married Dennis Ashton Baker and moved to Afton Wyoming in 1972 where she resided for 49 years.  In 2021 she moved into the Bear Lake Manor in Montpelier Idaho.

May had a love for flowers and gardening; she also was skilled at sewing, crocheting, and cooking and was able to share her talents with others.

May is preceded in death by her husband, parents, and her three brothers Howard George, Alan Wilson and Ernest William.  She is survived by her brother Melvin Russell, her son Ray and his children Bonnie, Brenda, Tenille, and Toni and his grandchildren Drew, Sydney, Cody, Andi, Addy, Molly, Owen, and great grandchild Violet.

The funeral will be held at the Afton 2nd Ward Tabernacle on Saturday,  January 6, at 12:00 with a viewing held prior to at 11:00 a.m.