Division mourns the loss of Leoné Cahill-Krout

Leoné Cahill-Krout

On July 25, 2025, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) lost a friend and beloved colleague, Leoné Cahill-Krout. 

Leoné joined HCA in January 2024 as a part-time historical interpreter at the Old State House and the Johnson Victrola Museum in Dover. She dove into that role, learning everything she could about both sites as quickly as possible. She enjoyed the uniqueness of the Johnson Victrola Museum. 

Her love of the museum led to the creation of an interactive, online-accessible tour of the Johnson Victrola Museum’s second floor so that all levels of the museum could be enjoyed by the public. The creation of this accessible tour and Leoné’s passion for sharing history led to her being recognized by her peers with the Division’s “Above and Beyond” award in April 2024. 

Leoné had a thirst for knowledge coupled with her irrepressible enthusiasm, creativity and attention to detail. These innate qualities led to her being selected as the full-time site supervisor for the Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site. In this new position, Leoné brought a passion for both learning and teaching as she worked tirelessly to bring Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site online as HCA’s sixth state museum while also juggling a variety of tasks from working with architects and engineers to historical research, program development, coordinating with the Friends of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site, and mentoring interns. Leoné was not intimidated at all by any of these new responsibilities. She relished the challenge. Her co-workers described her as talented and creative, and as someone who made the workplace inviting, interesting, inspiring and fun.

Leoné was embraced and cherished by the Delaware museum community; prior to joining HCA, she held several volunteer and paid roles at local museums. 

With how quickly she became an integral part of the Delaware museum community, it is hard to believe that this was her second career. Leoné’s first career was as a paralegal, eventually creating her own company for legal research, specializing in title searches. The skills she honed in this successful career clearly transferred over to her museum work – determination, kindness, inquisitiveness, mentorship, creativity, and enthusiasm.

Leoné was with HCA, and all of us, for far too short a time. Everyone who knew her was impacted by this loss, but will continue to honor her memory by moving her work forward. She was truly one of a kind.
To learn more about Leone’s life and legacy, visit www.dohertyfh.com/obituary/Leone-Krout.