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Kay Koster, 97

| February 8, 2023 12:00 AM

Kay Koster was born in March 1925 in San Pedro, California to Zatha and Jennings Bryant Cook. She passed away in January 2023, at home in Kalispell.

Kay lived through very hard times during the Great Depression but these challenges only strengthened her character — she was always looking at the positive side of life. During World War II, Kay was a “Rosie the Riveter,” earning a good wage building aircraft for the military. Some of the planes that she built and named were, “B-17”, “B-24”, “P-38” and “P-51 Mustang.” During January of 1943, Kay also met her future husband, William R. Koster. William was on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard at the time. William remembered the great-great-grandson of frontiersman Bridger telling him to marry Kay because she was a “great girl and a true lady.” For Kay and William, it was love at first sight. They married after a courtship lasting only a few weeks and they remained married for the rest of their lives, 73 years.

Kay was a Baptist Christain, her faith was very important to her and she raised her sons with the same values. She loved to do silk flower arrangements and she was an expert seamstress. Most of all though, Kay loved her family more than anything else. Her true love was for taking care of her family. She created and managed a beautiful home with energy and vibrancy. She was a true visionary when it came to using nutrition to treat poor health. She did everything to make sure that her family was eating the best, healthiest food possible by making delicious, natural and non–processed homemade food. In addition, she was also a trained nurse and she saved her son's lives many times.

Many excited, new brides in the Flathead Valley will remember “Kay’s Bridal Boutique” by Woodland Park. It was a one-stop shop for everything that brides needed: invitations, bridal dresses, limousine rentals and more. There was even a horse-drawn carriage that would come to the shop to pick up the bride-to-be.

Kay is survived by her children Rick, a Vietnam War combat veteran, and Lee; grandkids, Kit, Dusty, Matt, Brian, Brandy and Jessica; great-grandkids, Raevin, Shade, Carson, Billy, Bailey Rae and Dally Gene.

Kay is predeceased by her husband William, a Coast Guard veteran of World War II; her parents; and her brother, Jennings “Bud” Bryant Cook Jr., a Purple Heart recipient during World War II.