Jeffry Romel Frost

Jeffry Romel Frost was born to Austin and Jayne Frost on May 10, 1946 in McNary, Arizona, and peacefully passed away on February 14, 2026, in Spring, Texas, after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

He was the baby of his family and spent his formative years in the family home in Show Low, Arizona, with summers working on the family ranch in Linden with his siblings and parents.

He graduated from Snowflake High School in 1964. He was often seen wearing his favorite Snowflake Lobos hat in the last decade of his life. Following high school, he attended Brigham Young University for a year before being called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When he left for his mission, he was so concerned about his inability to roll his Rs, that his family held a special fast for him. Much to his surprise, he learned the skill and proudly spoke Spanish to anyone he suspected knew the language for the rest of his life (including incredibly kind and patient waitresses at sushi and Chinese restaurants, who were often bilingual, but never Spanish speakers).

Upon his return from Argentina in 1967, he re-enrolled at BYU, where he continued working on his bachelor’s degree in history. With the Vietnam War in full force, he opted to leave school in 1970 and enlist in the U.S. Army rather than waiting to see if he would be drafted. After basic training, he became a chaplain’s assistant—a position he held until his honorable discharge. He spent 9 months in Vietnam and the rest of his life sharing stories about it. In Vietnam, the troops called him “Preach” because of his chaplain’s duties and because he refused to participate in the many typical extra-curricular activities of the other GIs.

With the war effort wrapping up, he was granted an early discharge and returned to the states to continue his studies at BYU, where he met his first wife, Patricia Fowle. After a brief engagement, they were married in 1972. They divorced in 1985 after welcoming five children to their family. After graduation from BYU, he briefly taught high school at Show Low High School before moving to Phoenix to work as a business administrator for the Peoria and Balsz Elementary School Districts. During this time, he settled in Glendale, Arizona and did not leave the area until after he retired.

In 1986, he married Lucy Hall and combined her six children with his five. In 1988, he and Lucy welcomed a son into the family to make it an even dozen kids. Jeff and Lucy spent summers wrangling all 12 kids in their 4-bedroom home in Glendale. Due to unique custody arrangements and a broad age gap between the oldest and the youngest children, room assignments in the house were always fluid and the number of kids (including neighbors and friends) under their roof varied by school year and season. Through it all, he and Lucy were somehow able to house and clothe all twelve kids, while managing to always have a full battery of frozen burritos and otter pops in the deep freeze. One of dad’s proudest accomplishments is that all twelve kids pursued an education—and several earned post-graduate degrees. He often attributed this to his rule that the kids could only have a driver’s license if they made the honor roll.

In 1994, he moved back into the classroom and taught middle school in inner-city Phoenix, where he also coached the 7th-grade JV flag football team to multiple consecutive undefeated seasons. His coaching philosophy—which he also applied to personal life—was unrelenting pressure. On every snap, he sent every defensive player he could to blitz the opposing quarterback—with far more success than in his personal relationships. In 2001, he opted to take early retirement. His new schedule allowed him to grow his tax-preparation business, and in a few years’ time, he was earning more as a tax preparer than he did as a school teacher. After retirement, he and Lucy relocated to Taylor, Arizona, where they lived until his Alzheimer’s became unmanageable. Thereafter, he lived with his children, Margie and Austin, until it became necessary to put him into a nursing home.

He spent his final two years in memory care, where he received excellent care from the staff at Spring Creek Village. He proposed marriage to every female nurse, nurse’s assistant, and resident who would engage in conversation with him—a sign of both his eternal optimism and his Alzheimer’s disease. The family would like to thank the staff for their care and for somehow withstanding his irresistible charm and unrelenting advances.

Jeff was a lifelong member of and full believer in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in various church callings his entire life. He prized his scriptures, which were open on his nightstand when he passed away.

On Valentine’s Day, 2026, he went to bed with shortness of breath and gently passed into the loving care of his mother, his siblings, and his Savior, Jesus Christ. He was preceded in death by his parents, Aut and Jayne Frost, his siblings, LuPrele, Nancy, Jerry, and Gibb; and two grandchildren, Cooper Hall and Annabelle James. He is survived by: two exceptionally patient and loving former wives, Pat Conant and Lucy Hall Frost; a sister, Jackie Taylor; twelve children and stepchildren: Joseph Frost (Nannette), Jayne Smith (Ken), Margie Peterson (Bill), Austin Frost (Koni), Kayti Frost (Dusty), and Jonathan Frost (Darleen), Jennette Larsen (John), Brandon Hall (Jaci), Ryan Hall (Nannette), Janae Beeson (Sam), Jared Hall (Lisa), and Laun Hall (Catherine); 51 grandkids and 4 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service in his honor will be held at 1:00pm on March 7, 2026, at the downtown chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 300 N. 11th St., Show Low, Arizona. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity or to the general missionary fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.