Crofts honored as Pioneer Day Parade grand marshals

Edward Marchant Croft and Ora Louise Welch Croft were chosen to be “The Grand Marshalls” of the 2019 Pioneer Day celebration, held in Cowley. They find this to be a great honor, and many feel they are so deserving.

Louise was born in Lovell on Jan. 10, 1937, to Ora Meeks Welch and C. Golden Welch, who resided and raised their family in Cowley. Louise was raised in the Cowley school system and area. She is a proud “Jaguar graduate” from Cowley High School in 1955.

Louise has pioneer roots as her father, C. Golden Welch, came to the Big Horn Basin at 14 years old and settled in Cowley with his parents. C. Golden helped dig the canal and worked on the railroad and later had a grocery store in Cowley.

Edward was born in Lovell on Oct. 16, 1936, to Beth Marchant Croft and Winfield Scott Croft. Eddie grew up in Lovell but still had strong ties to Cowley as his uncle, Dr. Edward Wooley Croft, came to the Basin to assist in the “Typhus Epidemic” in 1908. Dr. Croft decided to stay and get established in Cowley. He opened a doctor’s office and pharmacy in Cowley, located where the Waterhole #1 used to be.

Ed and Louise were married Oct. 14, 1955, in Cowley, and Ed soon went overseas with the United States Air Force while Louise attended beauty school in Billings. Ed and Louise were reunited 18 months later and moved to Great Falls, Mont., to work and start a family.

Ed and Louise Croft raised six children: Edward “Ted” Welch Croft , Thomas Welch Croft , Max Welch Croft, Leisha Croft Workman, Scott Golden Croft and Kathleen Croft-Jolley. They now have 30 grandchildren and 53 great-grandchildren with three more on the way.

The Crofts were away from the Big Horn Basin for 24 years and decided to move back “home” in 1979. They lived in Lovell from 1979 until 2010, at which time they served a 20-month mission in Washington, D.C., for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ed & Louise returned from their mission in November of 2012 and eventually bought a home in Cowley in 2013 and have since resided in Cowley. They love Cowley and have always considered it “Home.” You can always count on homemade food and a warm smile from the Crofts.

As printed in the
2019 Pioneer Day Book: