ANACONDA — Lawn furniture is set up under the shadow of several fruit trees in the front yard of Kristian Kelley's Anaconda home.
Kristian cradles a photograph of her mother and takes a deep breath. She is sharing her mother's life story - a life cut short when she was gunned down along with three others at a neighborhood bar on the morning of Aug. 1st.
As Kristian begins, a butterfly flaps its wings while resting in the grass beside her.
"She used to call butterflies 'flutter-bys'," says Kristian.
She sets the gold-framed photograph of her mother in the grass and moves the butterfly onto the image.
Nancy's face is smiling in the picture. It almost looks as though she is peering at the spotted orange and black butterfly.
Kristian says the image was taken three decades ago, around the time of her parents' wedding.
WATCH: Kristian Kelley shares the life and legacy of her mother
On Aug. 1, at 10:30 a.m., Nancy Kelly was tending bar when she and three patrons - Daniel Edwin Baillie, David Allen Leach, and Tony Wayne Palm - were murdered in The Owl Bar by a man with a gun.
"It’s...it’s incredibly painful. It’s incredibly abrupt and, you know, just with everything going on in the world...It’s a lot. It’s a lot. It’s a lot to manage," says Kristian.
She describes her mother as a social butterfly, outgoing and excited to participate in community activities.
"I mean, she was always going here and there. You know, and going to Wise River or going, you know, out and about. Just very alive, very outgoing," says Kristian.
Nancy grew up in the Anaconda tavern scene. Her parents owned a bar that has long since been closed.
She enjoyed playing darts and riding motorcycles.
Kristian describes her mother as tough and caring, something she attributed to her long nursing career that began in the Butte intensive care unit and included work in pain management before she entered the oncology nursing field in Anaconda.
Nursing was Nancy’s calling.
"That was what she was supposed to do in life, you know? She was... she was great at it," says Kristian.
Nancy’s patients came from all over Southwest Montana to be treated in Anaconda. She cared deeply for her patients.
"They say you’re not supposed to bring work home. You’re not supposed to, you know, you leave it at the door. But I don’t know that that ever really happened. She brought people home with her and she cared. She cared about all of ‘ em," says Kristian.
About a decade ago, she even became her husband Don's caregiver when he underwent a long battle with cancer that ultimately took his life in 2018.
"She’s the one that gave him his chemo, and you just fight for your patients, and she fought for him, and yeah. It’s just. It’s been a lot," says Kristian.
When Nancy retired from her nursing career almost two years ago, she took up tending bar.
It was a perfect pastime for Nancy, who likely knew the alleged shooter, 45-year-old Michael Brown, who lived next door to the bar.
After a massive manhunt that brought in local, state, and federal agencies for the search, Brown was apprehended after one week. He is currently being held on a $2 million dollar bond in the Butte-Silver Bow County jail.
Anaconda is a small town where everyone knows everyone's business. Many of the locals say Brown, a military veteran, struggled with untreated mental illness. No motive has been given for the mass shooting, and Brown has not yet been charged. All court documents related to his case remain sealed and a district court date for the case has not yet been set.
Kristian says anger is not part of the grief she is experiencing. She worries about Brown's family members and the pain they must be feeling.
VIDEO EXTRA: Anaconda shootings suspect Michael Brown in custody
"You have someone that committed an atrocity, but also, is it a failure?" asks Kristian.
She wonders if Brown needed help for his mental illness. She wonders if he even wanted help. Either way, she says the tragedy is a loss of five lives.
"It’s not just a loss of four lives. It’s a loss of five. I mean, honestly, and I don’t know what....how do you fix that?"
A memorial service will be held for Nancy Kelley on Sept. 4 at Holy Family Church in Anaconda.
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