Nancy Lorraine Brosten, 73

Nancy Lorraine Eastman was born to Fred and Alyce Eastman on Nov. 14, 1948, in Glasgow, Montana. She was the first of six children born to the Eastman family. The small family moved to Somers in 1950. Nancy attended Somers Grade School and Flathead High School, graduating in June of 1966. While living in Somers she started to attend Eidsvold Lutheran Church and brought her brothers and sisters with her. Growing up she was actively involved in 4-H and Luther League. While Nancy and Terry didn’t officially start their love story until her senior year of high school, they competed against each other showing pigs at the Flathead County Fair. Nancy won Grand Champion and Terry came in second. It was more than just the showmanship that caught Terry’s eye, and in 1966 they exchanged Valentines and in June he accompanied her to her Senior Prom.

After graduating from Flathead High School with honors, she attended college at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, for two years. With Terry in the Army, Nancy returned to Somers and began her career in accounting by working at First Federal Bank in Kalispell. Terry came home from the Army and proposed to Nancy on the shores of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. The two were married on June 14, 1968. This last June they celebrated 54 years married.

Several things stand out in Nancy’s life as a foundation of who she was and why everyone loved her — family, adventure, strength, and making a difference by giving back.

Family: While Nancy and Terry did not have any children of their own, they spent time and energy engaging in the lives of their nieces and nephews as well as children of their friends. Family was important to Nancy and you could see that through so many things she accomplished including supporting her parents and Terry’s parents in their later years.

Adventure: They say life is an adventure and Nancy and Terry lived that adventure together traveling to 12 countries, 44 states, and one of their favorites, Hawaii, some 14 times. In 1993 they picked up and did one of the craziest things they had done together, bought the Swan Village Market in Swan Lake, Montana. They owned this store, gas station, post office and campground for nine years. While it brought about big challenges, it also brought them closer to family and back to Montana. Throughout their lives together, but especially in retirement, Nancy and Terry’s adventures took them to the water, where they loved sailing and taking in the scenery along the shores of many bodies of water.

Strength: Nancy was a force of strength for her family, friends, and in the business world. She never stopped using her accounting degree — even through making sure Terry had a stockpile of food to get him through the challenging times. After their move to California Nancy worked her way to a vice president of accounting and computers for a big construction company. After leaving California and moving to Washington, Nancy started her own business in 1988 called COMAC Consulting services. This had her traveling up and down the West Coast training companies and consulting on accounting and computer software.

Making a difference: Throughout their life together Nancy supported Terry, a disabled veteran, and was active in supporting all veterans. In 2002 Nancy retired and turned to giving back to her community. She spent time active in several organizations including Sons of Norway, Disabled American Veterans, and their home church Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Kalispell. Nancy served as the congregation president and helped run the Vacation Bible School youth program.

Nancy was known for her smile, the twinkle in her eye, and the occasional eye roll — usually toward Terry. She was always baking or cooking something and she even supervised Terry, learning to cook after her stroke in 2018.

Nancy went to be with the Lord on July 23, 2022.

She is survived by her husband, Terry D. Brosten, brothers Rick (Mary) Eastman, James (Nancy Jo) Eastman, sisters Kathy (Mark) Hinrichs and Marci (Steve) Whitham, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and -nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Fred and Alyce Eastman, and her brother Michael.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations in Nancy’s name to Bethlehem Lutheran Church or a charity of your choice.

A service to celebrate Nancy’s life will be held on Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Kalispell. This is open to all and will be followed by a reception at the church.