Betty J. Kopecky

Betty Jean (Steele) Kopecky, age 93, of Menahga, Minnesota died Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Mesa, Arizona.   Betty was born November 1, 1930, in Riverside Township, Hand County, South Dakota, the daughter of Robert and Lucile (Pettit) Steele.

Betty attended country schools, and later graduated from high school in Ree Heights, South Dakota, Class of 1949.

She was united in marriage to Ivyl Kopecky in 1951 during a ceremony at Ree Heights Congregational Church.   They made their home south of Ree Heights where she helped her husband start up his blacksmith shop. Their daughter, Brenda was born in1958.  

Betty loved to garden, plant strawberries and raise rose bushes.

In 1973 they moved to Jamestown, North Dakota and later to Ypsilanti, North Dakota where she worked at Ypsilanti State Bank.  

She and Ivyl loved getting on their Goldwing motorcycle and Harley to travel the country.  They loved to dance and listen to country music.  

In 2008, they moved from Ypsilanti to live with their daughter Brenda and her husband, Kevin in East Bethel, Minnesota. In 2015 they moved to assisted living in North Branch, Minnesota where they remained until Ivyl’s death in 2016.  Following his death she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law.  Together, they spent the remaining summers in Walker, Minnesota and escaped the Minnesota winters in Mesa, Arizona.

Betty is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ivyl.  She is survived by her daughter, Brenda (Kevin) LaDouceur; granddaughter, Nicole (Ryan) Odens; grandson, Jarred (Jodee) LaDouceur; great grandsons, Emery and Karl Odens; great granddaughter, Lawtyn LaDouceur; sisters, Bernece Lawler, Delores Steptoe; many other family and friends.

Private Family Graveside Services will be held at Morningside Cemetery in Ree Heights, South Dakota at a later date.