Elizabeth Brost, 100, Dickinson, died peacefully in her sleep with family at her side, Sunday, October 2, 2016 at St. Luke’s Home, Dickinson, a shock to many who had come to believe she would live forever. Elizabeth’s Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 7, 2016 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Dickinson, with Fr. Wayne Sattler as the celebrant and assisted by Deacon Bob Stockert. Interment will follow at the St. Thomas Cemetery, Gladstone. Visitation will be on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson. There will be a rosary & vigil at 7 p.m., Thursday, with Deacon Bob Stockert presiding.
Elizabeth was an incredible woman who was good at many things and driven to do much.
She was born on a farm on the western North Dakota prairie in 1916, one of 12 children to German immigrants Elizabeth and Valentine Sickler. She appreciated her childhood and the values it taught her, but she did not romanticize it – swearing she’d never move back. She enjoyed modern conveniences, especially carpet, which graced her every room, including the garage.
Elizabeth fell in love with Ray Brost, who played accordion at barn dances. Five years younger than her, she was sent her to Chicago to work and forget him. The scheme failed. When she returned home “It was just like it had been.”
The two married in 1942, raised four children in Gladstone, and were active in the community. They were tinkerers and early adapters. They worked hard and wasted nothing. They were dedicated Catholics who took care of their parents as they aged, stayed close friends with their siblings, and loved their family as it grew.
And they were a team. When Ray managed the Gladstone Farmers Union Oil Co., Elizabeth kept the books. In 1974 they opened R&E Health Food Store in Dickinson and brought the latest in healthy living and carob chocolate substitutes to town.
Elizabeth and Ray retired in 1991 but didn’t slow down. They joined the bowling league, played cards, took their motor home fishing, travelled the country and went to Germany to visit cousins they’d never known. They were crafty. They’d see something in a store, declare “we can make this” and do just that.
Elizabeth was a one-woman Etsy. She crocheted blankets, doilies and countless other lovelies. She sewed beautifully, including soft heavy denim quilts from her grandkids’ old jeans and one from her grandson’s fatigues from Iraq. Her final masterpiece was a collection of more than 30 teddy bears, impeccably produced with a matching outfits, for every member of her family.
She was the master of locally sourced artisanal goods before there were words for hipsters or foodies. She raised her own fruits and veggies in a garden as immaculate as any space she occupied. You name it, she canned it — pickles, jellies, tomatoes, beets. Her green thumb extended to the flowerbeds that decorated her patio.
Elizabeth and Ray loved company. She learned to cook from her mother and prepared incredible comfort food in even more incredible quantities — old family recipes like chicken soup, stuffed peppers, cucumber salad, spaetzle and “finish that, there’s not enough to keep.” Her kitchen was a Tupperware-assisted miracle of the loaves and fishes, bearing summer sausage, peppers, and other holy delights. And then there was her baking— elephant ears, poppy seed rolls, wasser kipfel and more. She doled out more butter, heavy cream and lard than Land O’Lakes. To watch her stretch strudel dough paper thin over her kitchen counter was to see a magician at work.
Elizabeth had no time for nonsense (it’d bring out a choice German word). But she always had time for a laugh, a visit, or to help someone who needed it. She could be strict as a drill sergeant but never met a child who didn’t bring a twinkle to her eye. She was unfailingly generous. Loved ones all hold gifts she gave them — including the blankets, teddy bears, and someplace between 10 to 30 extra pounds.
Ray passed away in 1998. Elizabeth did not remarry — “wouldn’t train another one.” She stayed in her home, sharp as a tack, until 2010. In May 2016, she celebrated her 100th birthday in better shape than most. Friends and family travelled from more than 10 states to honor her extraordinary life.
Elizabeth is survived by her children Gerald (Jerilyn) Brost of Chippewa Falls, Wis.; LaVerne (Rick) Kaufman of Bismarck, and Allen (Diane) Brost of Dickinson; daughter-in-law Marie Brost of Gladstone; 14 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; and four siblings, Theresa Kacalek, Albert Sickler, Jo Mack, and Fred Sickler.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son Ronald Brost; and 7 siblings. Today, she has joined Ray in Heaven, where things are no doubt just like they had been.
