Roy Eugene Mitchell

Roy Eugene Mitchell passed away peacefully on October 5, 2026, at the age of 102. He was born on December 26, 1923 in Huntsville, Arkansas, the fifth child of Will and Annie (Stroud) Mitchell. He was raised on a farm in Clearmont, Wyoming, where his parents raised sugar beets and hay. He graduated from Clearmont High School in 1941 and worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp after graduation. The war brought big changes and Roy enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1943, serving as a ball turret gunner in the European theater until the end of the war. After his service ended, he went to school in California, then worked with his brother Bob as a rodman/surveyor.

He returned to Wyoming in 1949 and it was at her parent’s diner where he met the love of his life, Fannie (Fran) Isabelle Tallman of Ucross, Wyoming. They married on August 19, 1950, in Sheridan, Wyoming. Their union was blessed with four children, as his job kept the family moving, between Wyoming, Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri, finally settling in the front range of Colorado. He trained in photogrammetry in 1956 and worked for engineering firms in Greeley, Brighton and Denver. In 1978 he took a job with the US Forest Service in Lakewood, making topographical maps.

Roy and Fran retired to Conroe, Texas in 1989, and there Roy devoted his retirement to reading, fishing, building and reupholstering furniture, gardening, and traveling to visit family. Roy was the epitome of a father and provider and helped his family long after they were grown. Roy was well loved; his strength and self-sufficiency was matched by his patience and kindness. After the deaths of his wife, in 2018, and his son Rob, in 2022, he spent his final years living with his son Tom and his wife in Fruita, Colorado.

Roy was the father of four, grandfather of ten, great-grandfather of ten, and great-great grandfather of three. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, his son Robert Eugene Mitchell, his grandsons Anthony Heim and Patrick Edwards, his great-grandson Jack Edwards, his parents, and his siblings Cecil Mitchell, Cloe Garretson, Robert Mitchell, Ruth Harnish and Doris Robinette. Roy is survived by his children and their families: Nancy (Mitchell) Edwards, her husband Denny, their sons, Lyle Heim, Jay Edwards, and their families; daughter Mary (Mitchell) Wilmetti, her husband Joe, and their children Erika Reeves and Ray; son Tom Mitchell, his wife Jere Zimmerman, their children Keli (Mitchell) Hogue, William Mitchell, Arthur Zimmerman and Rob Porter; his sister Dixie (Mitchell) Campbell and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service is planned for summer of 2027, in Sheridan, Wyoming and his ashes will be interred with his wife in the Tallman family plot in Upton, Wyoming.