Nola K. Chandler, 64

Nola K. Chandler June 5, 1958-May 9, 2023.

With love and sorrow in our Landstrom/Chandler hearts, we inform you that Nola Kay Chandler passed away at her home on May 9, 2023. She died of natural causes, which include heart rhythm problems from Parkinson's disease, aneurysm or stroke.

Nola was a sister, an aunt, a friend and a soulmate. To say, “Nola was physically and mentally strong” is an understatement, but it will have to do. Nola was the confident big sister who knew what to do and how to do it right. Above all, Nola was living art and she lived like she painted – in broad, colorful strokes with landscape colors, with light and with laughter. Nola demonstrated how to live well by vivacious example. While she composed a life of beauty at home, in the backcountry and working and traveling the world, she influenced us all for the better.

Nola played daily on trails and in the mountains – on foot, skis and bike, with grace and power. Summers were spent hiking and backpacking in Montana’s vast array of national forests, parks and wilderness areas, with occasional forays into other western states and provinces. Winters saw Nola pursuing her life-long love of nordic skiing.

She had presence and natural beauty prone to irresistible hilarity and shrieks of laughter that will echo in our memories forever. Dave recalls his first encounter with Nola was not visual, but through hearing her laugh rising up to him one winter day as she skied under the chairlift he was riding at Montana Snowbowl near Missoula. Not long after that incident, he met the beautiful woman who possessed that laugh and with whom he spent the following 32 years.

Nola and Dave were married in June 1996 and moved to Kalispell in 1999. They designed and built their home on an oxbow off the Stillwater River that Nola shaped with her gardens and filled with her art. She was delighted at the sights and sounds of the slough with a special affinity for blue herons, great horned owls and families of red fox that made their homes there.

Nola found great satisfaction in her life with Dave and was a partner whose love was unconditional. She nurtured their relationship with wisdom, commitment, love, humor and some of the best homemade breads, cookies, jams and produce in Northwest Montana. To watch Nola in her kitchen with light streaming through the windows, French cafe music on the radio, sourdough bread baking in the oven and a glass of red wine on the counter, was to see total and complete contentment.

Nola was a confident, experienced nurse for over 40 years and had a career of impeccable service. For Nola, nursing was a career that allowed her to pursue her love for the outdoors – hiking, biking, skiing and working all over the world – from Kenya and Tanzania to Antarctica for work with Dave, and skiing across Finland with friends, and a lot of other places she was grateful to respect and enjoy.

Born in Corvallis, Oregon in 1958 and raised in Bozeman, Nola graduated from Bozeman High School in 1976 and nursing school in 1980. She grappled with Parkinson’s disease for several years but refused to let it define her. Through pure strength and determination, she maintained her love for life.

Nola was beautiful without trying, creative, adventuresome, kind, intentional, dynamic and opinionated in the best ways. Her niece wrote, “Nola is like poetry – to the point and very, very deep. We love her forever.”

Nola was preceded in death by her mom, Nancy Chandler (2020); her dad, Dan Chandler (2006); and her brother-in-law, Scott Graber (2019). She is survived by her husband, Dave Landstrom (Kalispell); stepson, Jeremy Stouffer (Bobi); siblings, Allen (Carolyn), Chris (Barb), Peter (Michelle), Chandler; siblings, Doug (Sonja), Nyla (Steve) and Nedra; stepmother, MaryKen Chandler; her aunt, Patsy; and her dear cousins, nieces, nephews, and treasured friends.

Arrangements for a celebration of Nola’s life are in the works now. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please consider donations to Foys to Blacktail Trails or Rails to Trails – two organizations Nola loved.

Friends are encouraged to visit www.buffalohillfh.com to leave notes of condolences for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.