Nancy Elizabeth Brown

Growing up in Mississauga, Nancy attended Clarkson Secondary School in 1975. At 16 she obtained her driver’s license – and her pilot’s license. She began a long love of theatre and the arts by participating in The Sears Drama Festival and was a mean field hockey player.

Nancy graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA Sc in Engineering Science (Aerospace) in 1981. There she participated in many Skule Night productions as an amateur thespian as well as Toronto’s Caravan at the Dawson City Pavilion as a Can-Can dancer (81-82). She worked briefly for Air Canada before entering Law at McGill University in Montreal graduating with an LLB in 1984.

Nancy’s legal career led her to the west coast, articling with the Federal Department of Justice in Vancouver, and called to the Bar in 1985. She then joined the Department of Transport from 1986-87 as an Aviation Enforcement Officer, work involving maritime and aviation law and overseeing the devolution of Federal Airports in BC.

After a brief sojourn, Nancy joined the BC Ministry of Attorney General, Legal Services Branch in 1998 working for 22 years in both the Civil Litigation and Constitutional and Administrative Law. She was lead counsel on complex cases before all levels of court, including numerous appearances at the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition to her legal expertise, Nancy was also a member of the Assistant Deputy Attorney General’s office for the last 10 years of her career, working on key strategic and legal projects, providing leadership to the entire organization. She also served as an inter provincial representative, taking her across Canada on behalf of the Ministry of the Attorney General. In 2015 she was recognized for her excellence in law by receiving the Queen’s Counsel designation.

Nancy, while married to Jan Oster, realized her dream to raise and ride horses on her farm near Ladysmith: honing her dressage skills while caring for an assortment of pigs, ducks and chickens.

In 1999 Nancy married Bruce Goodman: a true love with a man in red serge (RCMP and CSIS officer), who shared her love of travelling, flying and sailing. Tragically, this was cut short by Bruce’s untimely death from cancer. For Nancy, his death reinforced the lesson to travel and do things NOW – and she did so with vigour.

A generous and compassionate woman, Nancy began her most daunting challenge in adopting her third love, Tim Lomas, who shares with Nancy a great love for travel and whose quick wit and intelligence kept her smiling over the years.

In 2008 Nancy took a sabbatical, completing a degree in photography with the Western Academy of Photography. Volunteer work included being on the board and later chair of Greater Victoria Victim Services Society (2010-15) and the Greater Victoria Therapeutic Riding Assoc (2017-19). An avid golfer, she played with her circle of friends affectionately called the Golf Girls

International travels began young, travelling with our parents, with a special family trip to England at 12. She visited the Soviet Union (‘75), celebrating her 16th birthday on three continents. Happiest moments include riding a horse around the Pyramids of Egypt post 9/11, being amidst penguins in Antarctica, and sleeping with lions in Africa. Riding camels, yaks and Icelandic ponies was a joy; standing atop of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Sinai were thrills of a lifetime.

A true renaissance woman, Nancy continually amazed us in exploring the world around her, creatively taking us on her artistic journeys in the arts including photography, encaustic, pottery and painting - all the while sharing her confident smile and those sparkling blue eyes.