The following obituaries and death notices appeared in the February 4, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
For more resources including headstones, please visit the Star Valley Historical Society.
Leveda Troy
Leveda Lee Troy passed gently to her Savior on January 30, 2026, at home in Smoot, Wyoming in the arms of her loving family. She was born on June 3, 1945, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the daughter of Lewis Cross and Ruth Mooney Cross. Two years later, her mother and new husband Otis Thomas took Leveda to Butler, New Jersey, where she grew up. Leveda excelled in school subjects, and upon graduation she received a scholarship to Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. She later transferred to Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. While in college, she met and married Howard Brandt. Two daughters, Lisa Gail and Jill Amanda were born in ensuing years. Not long after they were married, the family moved first to Rochester, New York and then Miami, Florida for Howard’s graduate schooling. Besides her tasks as a young mother, Leveda found employment as a Postal letter carrier in the Miami area. She and Howard were later divorced.
Leveda moved with her daughters to Newport, Tennessee, where she obtained a small dairy farm. The farm was very hard work for her and the girls, but with a side job as a rural mail carrier she was able to make ends meet. Leveda had discovered and worked with a group called The Light Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina which made trips to various countries to pray for the people there. After the girls graduated from high school, they moved to Portland, Oregon to be with their father, and Leveda moved to continue working with that group. She had the opportunity to travel with them to numerous countries, including Egypt, Israel, Syria, several African nations, and a number of Far East countries.
On New Years Day in 1985, Leveda met the true love of her life, Eugene (Gene) Troy. They later married and she moved with him first to Maryland, where he was a computer scientist doing cybersecurity work for the government. In succeeding years, they moved to Denver and then to Colorado Springs, where he worked for a Defense contractor for three years. While in Colorado, Leveda and Gene did community service work with the Colorado AIDS Project, where they provided emotional support for young men dying of that terrible disease. In 1989, they went back to Maryland upon Gene’s return to his former employer there. During that time, they became active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including serving as ordinance workers in the Washington DC temple. Upon Gene’s retirement in 2001, they moved to Star Valley, Wyoming, where they resided until Leveda’s passing.
Leveda had a sweet and loving character, a joy to be around. She was very generous, readily sharing whatever she had, as well as what she knew. She was no stranger to hard work. She particularly loved the special times when she could be together with her daughters and grandchildren. She and Gene had made a special study of preparedness topics, and they often gave presentations on that subject to church members and others in the community. Leveda had numerous talents and interests, among them quilting, gardening, and her art, especially the latter. She was an accomplished artist and loved working in various media, especially acrylics and watercolor, also woodburning and pottery. Her art talent was recognized as early as elementary school, where she illustrated a children’s book being written by one of her teachers. While in Star Valley she continued her painting, exhibiting her work often in the local Lincoln County Fair. She won numerous awards there, including two “Best of Shows” and many blue ribbons. Leveda particularly enjoyed sharing her artwork with others, often giving her pieces away to friends.
Leveda often joined Gene as he went on foreign travel for his job, the two of them frequently taking side trips to interesting places. They explored the British Isles, various locales in Europe, and even spent the night in a medieval French castle. They also traveled to South America, visiting the ancient city in the Peruvian Andes called Machu Picchu.
For many years while her health permitted, Leveda was active in her church, serving in several callings in the Relief Society and elsewhere.
Leveda was preceded in death by her father Lewis Jackson Cross, mother Ruth Leona (Mooney) Thomas, and brother James Thomas. She is survived by her husband Eugene, daughters Lisa (Mark) Friedly and Jill Brandt, stepchildren Clifton, Victoria, and Eugene Troy Jr., and her three grandchildren Ian, Amanda and Sara.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2026, in the Dry Creek Ward Chapel on Highway 241 south of Afton. A visitation will be held prior to the service from 10:30 am to 11:30 am.
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