Doreen and Dick Brostrom
In their desire to serve others, Doreen and Dick Brostrom have lived out their deepest commitment to volunteerism, modeling for us a lifestyle that can occur at any time, in any place. For this couple, after successfully pursuing careers in business and education, in their mid 50s they embarked upon second careers. Dick was the co-owner of Creative Type and Doreen was a longtime and respected member of the Viterbo nursing faculty.
Leaving the security of their home and possessions, they moved thousands of miles from their La Crosse roots. In 1993, the Brostroms first took up residence near Thoreau, N.M., working as volunteers at St. Bonaventure Mission on the edge of the sprawling Navajo reservation. Doreen worked as a school nurse at the mission school, and Dick ran an RV and trailer park, which generated revenues for the school and the mission operation.
That venture was just the beginning of an assortment of full-time volunteer experiences that would span nearly two decades. Dick helped raised funds so that the mission school had computers, a library, a gymnasium and a building for food service. Doreen taught, utilized her nursing skills, and together, the couple provided whatever other help they could for the more than 200 children who would be transported for hours over the dusty roads that comprised the territory of the remote desert reservation.
Later, as a couple or individually, they would pursue other volunteer interests, serving as hospice volunteers, working in a women’s shelter, tending to the elderly in senior high rises. They would distribute donated food and clothing—jackets, boots, and mittens—to women and children, serve thanksgiving dinners and provide personal care in hospitals, and work with the poor and disenfranchised who experienced homelessness.
Often they found the threads that tied them to their work was through a Franciscan connection, even in some cases with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who supported this mission work.
As to why they chose to pursue a lifestyle of volunteerism, Dick and Doreen responded: “The train keeps going by. We decided to make the change and take the ride. After we made the commitment, we were seriously tested a number of times. In following our dreams, we have lived an incredible life filled with many adventures.”
Dick and Doreen have seven children: John, Jeff, Dick, Mary, Susan, Jennifer, and Tim, 15 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.