HOT PURSUIT

A family photo shows Erin Brose in the center with her husband, Andy, and two children, Emma and Jack. Erin died Jan. 12 after being a Good Samaritan while helping two other motorists who crashed their vehicles.

Two Owatonna women are launching an effort to help an area family become stronger than the storm.
That storm involves a Dodge Center family who lost a wife and mother trying to be a Good Samaritan just a day after celebrating her 46th birthday.
Erin Brose, who grew up in the Owatonna area, died Jan. 12 at a Rochester hospital. She stopped to help two motorists who crashed into each other in foggy conditions on a rural road in Dodge County Dec. 30.
She is survived by her husband, Andy, and two children, Emma and Jack. Jack is a senior at Triton High School in Dodge Center.
Tara Choudek and Holly Anderson have organized a benefit to help the Brose family. They had planned the benefit before Brose died. It now has become a Celebration of Life and benefit to help pay for medical and funeral expenses.
The benefit will take place on Sunday, March 2 at the Owatonna VFW from 12-4 p.m. A pulled pork meal will be offered for $12. There will be a bake sale and silent auction.
Choudek said the crash has devastated the Brose family. They have no medical insurance and very little to no money to pay for a funeral. All proceeds raised at the benefit will go directly to the family.
What the Brose family may lack in finances, they have more than made up for with a generous heart. Erin, who was a healthcare aide, was known in life for helping others. Her favorite Bible verse from Romans 12:13 captures the essence of her life, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
“She was always trying to help people,” Choudek said of Erin. “She had a big heart.”
Sadly, Erin’s death is only part of the storm facing the family. This is the sixth death in the last five years that Erin’s mother, Nan Wandrey of Owatonna, has experienced. Nan has lost a father, brother, father of her children, brother-in-law, son’s wife and now a daughter. To top it off, Nan has been on bed rest in recent weeks after having a brain tumor removed.
Three years ago, Nan nearly died from COVID-19. She spent nearly two months in the hospital. During an interview at the time, she told me she was convinced she was just inches away from death. She made a miraculous and unbelievable recovery.
This is where Choudek comes into the picture. She is a friend of the Wandreys and organized 14 prayer vigils for Nan outside the hospital just before the holidays in 2021. They worked as Nan recovered and eventually went home.
Choudek is now back at it again in helping Nan cope with her daughter’s death and organizing the benefit.
“I’m just trying to help them out,” Choudek said. “Money can’t replace Erin, but it can make the healing process a little easier for the family. I want to help the family as much as I can. I know she would do the same for me.”
Anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the benefit can reach out to Choudek at tjv622@gmail.com or Holly Anderson at anewhol23@yahoo.com.
It’s apparent Choudek and Anderson are in hot pursuit of being stronger than life’s storms.