Nancy Lee Rosenbrahn

Nancy Lee was born on Friday April 13, 1946, and passed away suddenly on November 4, 2025.

Nancy was the oldest of nine children. She is preceded in death by her parents Lawence and Jean, her brother Jim, niece Gerianne, and her loving wife Jennie. She is survived by her son James, his wife/bonus daughter Vania, and their son Bowen; her daughter Lisa, her husband Scott, and their three sons Ethan, Riley and Blake; Jen's son Alan, his wife Amlix, their son Jessy, daughter Michaela and her son Rafael and her daughter Isabella; her son Pete, his partner Wanda, her daughter Nikki, her daughter Vanessa and her son Jaxon.

Nancy began her adult life as a military wife by Marquette, Michigan where she would tell stories of how the wives kept themselves sane during the many snowstorms and blueberry pickings in the summer. She then moved to Rapid City, SD and spent the next 50 plus years making that her home.

She was an insurance salesperson, owner of Valley Skateway Roller Rink, owner of a small take-out restaurant in Keystone,SD called the Pick N' Shovel (or as her youngest sister Janet dubbed it the "Puke and Shove It"), and owner of a mobile home park for over 30 years.

She met Jennie in 1985 and they had so many adventures together: selling Indian Tacos at various events throughout South Dakota, rescuing dogs and helping rehome over 200 dogs-at one point they had over 20 dogs in their home-and helping to transfer rescue animals of all kinds across the state and to MN. I can still hear their giggling as they recalled the time they helped transport a donkey across the state in their Prius.

Of course, Nancy is known for her fight for LGBTQ rights. She was a strong advocate, coming out of the proverbial closet in 1975 following her divorce, and she never stopped fighting for equal rights. She and Jen sued the state of SD for marriage rights in 2014 after getting married in MN and celebrated the Supreme Court ruling in 2015.

Nancy excelled at event planning. She did an amazing job on both of her daughters' weddings. As the president of the Center for Equality, she planned many Pride events, Gay proms, and more dances than anyone can count-including a group marriage ceremony at Mount Rushmore. She also hosted many holiday dinners for the people in the community who did not have family around.

Nancy's greatest legacy will be the immense number of people she mentored. I'm not even sure she was aware of the impact she had on so many people. She was available at any time to listen and give advice and would move mountains to help a stranger.

She had an impeccable green thumb (something she passed onto her son but not her daughter J) and loved what we called her 'emotional support plants.' She was also an amazing quilter, gifting hundreds of quilts to family and friends over the years. Every recipient is grateful to have a piece of her with them right now. May they curl up under her love with fond memories of her.

Nancy managed to find a community of friends no matter where she lived. She enjoyed the music of Adam Lambert and traveled to his concerts across the US with a dedicated group of like-minded fans that became her friends. She recently moved to Minnesota to be close to family and found a community of friends within her apartment complex who enjoyed her company along with her dog Winston.

Nancy loved being a grandma to her four grandsons. She marveled at Bowen's talent in martial arts, proud to attend all his competitions, belt testing, and even his practices. She also loved watching him play in the band with his blue trumpet. Ethan was her first grandson and she loved that he referred to her as "Dude" until he decided in high school that "Grandma Nancy" was a better fit. She told everyone at the hospital that he had worked there as a scribe and was graduating medical school in the spring to be an ER doctor. She loved Riley's laugh and comical nature and enjoyed watching live streams of his high school lacrosse games-all the way to the state championship game. Blake, the youngest, shared her love of Disney, and she was proud of him for his accomplishments in Science Olympiad–especially the story of how he won the State Championship his senior year.

Angels come to us in many forms. We owe a dept of gratitude to a little dog named Pearl and her owner Jim. Jim lets Pearl pick which way she wants to go on her walks around the apartment complex. On the morning of November 4, Pearl walked Jim on a different path that led them to Nancy. Seeing she needed help, he called 911 and waited with her and Winston until the ambulance took her to the hospital.

On a closing note (I've written so much and barely touched the surface), Nancy loved sharing with people information she found helpful. So I'm sharing her last bit of wisdom-set up the emergency contact information on your phone. Because she had done this, we were notified she was in trouble and was able to arrive at the hospital before they disconnected the machines.

Her good friend Max has been kind enough to set up a Dropbox for people to send photos, videos, or stories to be used at her Celebration of Life memorial.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/bvpp37k6xpse4mvkkzhl7/ANAabfU_NI_WnKn3MPYsfJs?rlkey=1vhpmmbcrituld8cyeio2i6gt&st=nbu93u25&dl=0

Her memories are a blessing, and she lives on in those she loved.