Chely Nettie Brubaker

Chely Nettie Brubaker, 72, of Polson, unexpectedly passed away on December 7, 2023.

Chely was born on October 30, 1951, to Harry and Nettie Brost in Terry, Montana.  She spent a happy childhood living with her sister, Lola, and parents above the family business, Brost Clothing. Lola was Chely’s best friend, and they still spoke daily.

Chely attended Terry High School, graduating in 1969. She was a great student and excelled at athletics, especially softball and track and field – she was disappointed to have barely missed the opportunity to play basketball, which became available as a girls’ team sport shortly after she graduated (and, according to her husband, “she would have been a stud.”). Highlights included sharing the AAU state record for the 440 relay with her teammates and winning the 440-yard dash at state.  

Chely also met the love of her life at school. Chely and Ed “Eddie” Brubaker met during 1^st grade and started dating during her senior year. She and Ed married in 1970, and soon thereafter started a family – first daughter, Tori, and then son, Lane. The young family made their home on two different ranches in Terry: the Knuths Ranch, and then the Lund Ranch, where Ed was the ranch manager. Chely loved ranch life and was sad to leave when the family made the move to Deer Lodge after purchasing a feed store, but she quickly made lifelong friends and great memories running the store, raising her kids, and playing softball and golf.

After 10 years in Deer Lodge, Ed and Chely moved to Washington: First to Othello, and then Monroe, before returning to Montana and settling in Miles City, Stevensville, and finally, upon her retirement after 18 years with Walmart, to Polson, so she could follow her grandsons around and enjoy time on Flathead Lake. She loved living so close to Tori and her family, and treasured visits to Lane and his family, first in Helena, and then in Oregon.

Chely was a lifelong sports fan, and happily cheered on Tori and Lane, and then her grandsons, Tai and Noah in their various sporting endeavors. She was an avid fan of the MSU Bobcats and the Seattle Mariners and enjoyed attending games with friends and family.

Above all, Chely was kind, and generous and open-hearted and will be greatly missed by all who were lucky enough to know her.

Chely was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Nettie Brost; brother-in-law, Dick Hess; sister-in-law Carol Larsen; and brother-in-law Gary Larsen.

Chely is survived by her husband, Ed, Polson; daughter, Tori (Klint), Polson; son, Lane (Jessica), Monmouth, OR; grandsons, Tai, Butte, and Noah, Bozeman; sister, Lola Hess, Billings; brother-in-law, Albert J. (Dixie) Brubaker, Columbus; and many loving cousins, nieces, nephews.

A service will be held on December 21, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. at the Terry Community Presbyterian Church, 317 Logan Avenue, Terry, Montana.