Ellen Kelly Adderley Oltmanns

OLTMANNS, ADDERLEY, GAFFERT, CONE, SCHNEIDER, WILLIAMS

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 10/14/2010 at 14:21:39

Ellen Kelly Adderley Oltmanns, 48, of 826 Barrington Road in Iowa City, died unexpectedly at home on Monday, October 11, 2010.

Ellen was born November 5, 1961 in Royal Oak, Michigan to Terence Edward and Ellin Joyce (Gaffert) Adderley. Growing up in Michigan, she attended Brookside School, and later earned her BA from Oakland University, and her MA from the University of Michigan.

Ellen moved to Texas for her first teaching job, and taught school at
Campbellton Elementary School near San Antonio, Texas.

Ellen married Billy Oltmanns on March 6, 1993, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Stockdale, Texas. The family moved to Iowa City in 2000.

Ellen was a loving, warm mother who was rewarded in life by two daughters, Brittany Jane and Sara Ester, who meant the world to her. She was a treasured and beloved wife, daughter, sister, cousin, niece, and aunt. Ellen taught pre-school at the Kaleidoscope Pre-School in Iowa City. She was an exceptional, devoted teacher who gave so much to every classroom and to every child.

Dedicated teacher, protective, enthusiastic, strong, loving, compassionate. Calm, sincere, a very gentle person. Sensitive, deeply respectful, appreciative of others, someone who made people feel special and important, and fun. A mother. Nurturer. Generous, kind-hearted, dignified, wise.
Very sweet, generous with her love, very grounded, hard-working, unusually straight-forward. A believer in the importance of play for children, genuine, humble, and bold. Ellen lived from a deep level where she respected people’s intelligence and creativity, and supported this with actual projects- art projects, science, and story, and other projects she devised. She taught from the heart. She loved the kids she taught over the years, loved people, and loved her family.

Ellen is survived by her husband Billy; her daughters, Brittany Oltmanns and Sara Oltmanns; her parents, Terence Adderley and Joyce Adderley
sisters, Carol (Jon Cone) Adderley, Mary Adderley, Laura (Jamie) Schneider, and Elizabeth (Ryan) Williams.

She was preceded in death by her older brother, Russell, and her younger brother, Ted.

Ellen loved people, loved her family and had an extreme love for all children.

How you will be missed.