Kellie Ann Koletzky

Kellie Ann Koletzky, age 66 of Yankton, SD passed away Monday, October 27, 2025 at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, SD under hospice care surrounded by her family. A Celebration of Life will be held 6:30 pm, Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home in Yankton with Matt Hanson officiating. Online condolences may be sent at www.okfhc.com. Livestreaming of Kellie's services may be viewed at: https://server.attend.live/static/event/mZ219.

Kellie Ann (Cooley) Koletzky was born July 6, 1959, in Fairmont, Minnesota, to James and Marilyn (Novotny) Cooley. Kellie’s family moved to Parkston, South Dakota in the early 1960s, and then to Yankton, South Dakota in 1966.

Kellie grew up in Yankton, and graduated from Yankton High School in 1977. She married Ronald Koletzky in 1978, and they welcomed sons Ronald Jr. (1979), Daniel (“Danny”) (1980), and Dustin (“Dusty”) (1981), and later divorced.

Kellie grew up helping her grandparents at Novotny Greenhouse. She continued her career at the greenhouse after it was purchased by Jim & Kathleen Piper in 1975 and became Pied Piper Flowers. Kellie also worked at Gurney’s Seed & Nursery until it closed in 2000. Kellie then took the opportunity to get a college degree and started taking night classes. She received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mount Marty College in May, 2001.

While attending college, Kellie began working at Shurco/Truxedo as a customer service leader. Kellie worked at Truxedo for over 20 years, and retired in 2024. One of the best parts of working at Truxedo was working and having lunch with her son Danny.

Kellie met her beloved partner, Dave Poppe, in 1993. Kellie and Dave bought their acreage in the hills and valleys west of Yankton in 1996. They built their home in 1997, which became a place for gatherings of family and friends. Kellie loved to cook and entertain visitors, and her favorite events were her chili cookoffs, drink-of-the-month club, and her annual 3rd of July party. Kellie loved fireworks because of her July 6th birthday.

Kellie loved life, living it to its fullest every day. She enjoyed cooking, baking, recipes-of-the-month, and a large styrofoam cup of fountain Dr. Pepper, filled with more nugget ice than there was soda. Kellie loved storm chasing with her son Dusty and her grandchildren, and she never passed up the opportunity to talk about history or go for a good nature hike or golf ball hunt with her family or friends. Finally, one the family’s most treasured of Kellie’s habits, was her love of journaling. Kellie started journaling at a very young age. As she grew older, she journaled daily. The legacy of life she has left behind is memorialized in those journals. The last day Kellie was able to journal in her own handwriting happened to be on her son Dusty’s birthday, October 19, 2025.

The loves of Kellie’s life were her grandchildren, Caid, Kobe, Kalli, Kinsley, Kami, and Koco. Grandma Kellie rarely missed an event or activity that involved her grandchildren. From rinks to courts to ball fields, you would find Grandma Kellie in the stands. The things Grandma Kellie did with her grandchildren are countless, but sledding, riding golf carts, hitting golf balls, and shopping cover a few. Kellie was so happy to recently gain a bonus granddaughter in Caid’s fiancée, Lexi Kirkman.

Kellie’s battle with breast cancer began in late 2002 to early 2003. Kellie’s passion soon became fighting for a cure, advocating in the community through events like Relay for Life and women’s health forums. By 2016 the cancer had metastasized to her lymph nodes. In late 2021 Kellie learned that time was not on her side. Kellie fought to live each and every day. Even on her last day, Kellie was still fighting but she was at peace.

Lucky and grateful to have shared Kellie’s life are her partner, Dave Poppe, sons, Danny Koletzky (Tabor) and Dusty and wife Sherri Koletzky (Yankton), grandchildren Caid and fiancée Lexi Kirkman, Kobe, Kalli, Kinsley, Kami, and Koco Koletzky (all of Yankton), sisters, Karen Cooley (Carlsbad, CA) and Lia Azeal Davis (Yankton), aunt Jean Novotny (Phoenix, AZ), uncle and aunt, Bill and Mary Novotny (Phoenix, AZ), and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Kellie was preceded in death by her infant son Ronald Koletzky Jr., parents James & Marilyn Cooley, brothers Christopher Cooley, James Jay Cooley, and John Cooley, and grandparents Wesley & Elsie Novotny and Herschel & Pearl Cooley.

Kellie loved flowers, but she also loved organizations that supported the fight against cancer. If you’d like to donate to the fight against cancer in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Kellie’s honor to the Pink Ladies, c/o Jenn Carda, PO Box 82, Tabor, SD 57063.