Leland Chancy and Toni Williamson Croft

Jun 8, 2022 -

Aug 30, 2022

Toni Williamson Croft died on June 8, 2022, and Leland Chancy Croft died twelve weeks later, on Aug. 30, 2022. They just missed celebrating 60 years of marriage, all in Alaska.

Toni died of progressive heart disease complicated by COVID-19. Although Chancy had a number of medical issues, the family believes that he died primarily because he did not want to continue living without her.

They were born five years apart in the neighboring, rival West Texas towns of Midland and Odessa. One of their first shared passions was the desire to get as far away as possible from West Texas. There would be many more shared passions.

Leaving Texas: Chancy started at the University of Texas in 1955, graduating with a combined B.A. in sociology/government and legal JD in 1961, a year ahead of time. Toni graduated a year early from high school and attended Stanford University, graduating in 1963 with an A.B. in history.

They first met at the Debutante Ball in 1960-61, sitting next to each other, with their dates sitting on the opposite ends. They enjoyed a delightful, wide-ranging conversation and a quick New Year's Eve kiss. By early 1962, Chancy was working at a local law firm. They spent the summer of 1962 dating, quickly becoming exclusive and serious.

By the end of the summer, Toni returned for her senior year in college. Chancy went to Alaska that fall with his best friend from college, Bill Bailey, to check it out. Chancy liked Alaska. Toni visited with a chaperone. She liked Alaska, too. They were married in Midland on July 8, 1963, and left Texas for good.

They started in a small house in Spenard; Toni's father JC remarked that he had been in bigger chicken coops. Toni was pregnant with their first child during the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. When Chancy was helping another couple, she moved the car and watched a hole open up where the car had been. They had three children: Eric in 1964, Kym in 1966, and Lee in 1968.

Progressive Politics: Toni and Chancy shared a passion for progressive politics. In 1968, Chancy ran for the State House and won. Toni managed the campaign. As she would remind him repeatedly over the next decades, she managed all of his successful campaigns, first the House and then State Senate in 1972 and 1976. In the early 1970s, the family was driving to Juneau, Alaska, in record low temperatures without a caravan when the car froze up. They survived a memorable night at 78 below zero near Tok, Alaska.

In 1975, Chancy was elected President of the Senate, leading one of the most productive legislative sessions in Alaska history, including passage of oil taxes securing Alaska a fair share of oil wealth, and bills on anti-trust, workers' compensation, child support, decriminalization of marijuana and no-fault divorce. Chancy was an early proponent of the Permanent Fund, sponsoring the Senate version of the original statutory fund with Rep. Hugh Malone in the House. After Gov. Hammond's veto, the Senate under Chancy's leadership passed the constitutional amendment for the current Fund.

By 1978, Chancy and Toni felt that politically, it was up or out. They decided to run for Governor. When asked at a Chamber of Commerce forum about his taxation of the oil industry he said, "We are not buying love; we are selling oil," receiving a reluctant round of applause. While Chancy eventually won the Democratic nomination, the primaries on both sides were razor thin and in doubt for many weeks, resulting in a three-way general election race between Chancy, Jay Hammond and Wally Hickel as a write-in - one of many truly weird Alaska elections. After the loss, they decided to move on to new challenges. They continued to advocate for Alaska receiving a fair share of its oil wealth until the very end.

Injured Workers: Chancy made a second career representing injured workers and fighting insurance companies for over 40 years. He appeared before the Alaska Supreme Court many times and the cases he won define much of the current law of workers' compensation in Alaska. He could not have done it without the help and friendship of his fabulous paralegal Brenda Marlow. He was sometimes asked if he ever worked as a lobbyist and liked to say "I frequently lobby the Legislature - pause - but I say what I want and don't get paid for it."

Wild Places: After leaving elected office, Toni and Chancy developed a shared passion for rafting Alaska's wild rivers. As a family, they rafted over 20 remote Alaska rivers, including the Aleknagik (Branch), Kanektok, Lake Creek, Sheenjek, Talchulitna, Tangle Lakes, Tokositna, Talkeetna and mighty Yukon. Lee was an early fan, particularly the terrifying Devil's Canyon on the Talkeetna, but Kym and Eric, heavy into teenager-hood, took more time to warm up to it. All now consider it the best of times. The family would also regularly visit Patton Bay on Montague's outside coast, which Toni had explored with the kids on one of the many legislative special sessions.

Education: Both Chancy and Toni's families have a long-standing passion for education. While Toni was taking care of three young children, she began teaching math at the Adult Learning Center, part of the Alaska Community College system. When UAA absorbed the community colleges, Chancy and Toni opposed the consolidation; unfortunately, they were unsuccessful.

Now a UAA professor, Toni earned her master's degree in brain theory and learning. Toni soon began to shine as a math professor and later served as department chair. One of her great joys in life was helping her students overcome their perceived limitations and then ultimately seeing them go on to accomplish previously unimagined goals. Chancy served on the UA Board of Regents from 1995-2003, including one term as Chair.

Both lifelong learners and bibliophiles, Chancy and Toni formed a book club in 1986 with Gretchen Bersch, Jack and Martha Roderick, Alice and Gunnar Knapp, Michael and Maggie Carey and later Eric Wohlforth. They met monthly, mostly, for over 35 years.

Organic Wine: Although they always said that they had never tasted wine until they got to the Legislature, Toni and Chancy developed a shared passion for growing and tasting fine wines. In 1983, after discovering the prohibitive Napa prices for vineyards, Toni and Chancy bought an orchard in the central Willamette Valley and turned it into a 30-acre vineyard. They began growing sauvignon blanc and lots of pinot noir, and one year later followed this with another orchard which they turned into a 70-acre vineyard. They were opposed to using chemicals to grow their grapes; from the very beginning they farmed both vineyards entirely organically. Croft Vineyards is recognized for producing some of the best fruit in Oregon. They later formed Croft Winery and their wines have won multiple awards.

Grandchildren: Later in life, their passion was their grandchildren: JC and John by Lee and Terri; Jennifer, Sage and Laugan by Kym and Tim Miller; and Shannon and Burke by Eric and Joanna. In a tradition started by Chancy's mother, Dorothy, they took each of the grandchildren on a trip just before high school to any part of the world they wanted. They went with JC to France, Jennifer to Australia, John to South Africa, Sage to Greece, Shannon to Egypt, Laugan to the Galapagos and Peru, and Burke to China. These trips allowed some alone-time with each grandchild and made for great shared memories.

Decline: Their health declined rapidly over the last nine months. The Croft family urges you to take nothing for granted: take the trip long-discussed, make the call you should have made, say the thing needed and unsaid, hug longer.

Chancy is survived by his talented and much-loved sister, Dona Lee Croft of London. Toni was predeceased by her brother, Ralph; and sisters, Charla, Margaret and Mary Jane.

The family will hold an Anchorage event to honor Chancy and Toni's lives sometime soon. We don't need flowers. If you would like, you can donate to the Dorothy Croft scholarship for Young Musicians at the Alaska Community Foundation, the Toni Croft Developmental Education Scholarship at UAA, or to any progressive candidate of your choice, the more liberal and outspoken the better.