Eleanor Knott Hopley

Eleanor Knott Hopley passed away of natural causes on April 12, 2022, at the age of 88 in Colorado Springs, CO. She was born Eleanor Julia Knott on April 21, 1933, in Geneva, IL. Her parents, Walter and Rachel Julia (Bromeland) Knott added her to their family of four sons, Richard Walter (Dick) Knott, Olaf Clayton (Jack) Knott, Edward Gerald (Jerry) Knott and Howard Charles Knott. Her parents named her after Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman of strength and impact.

After graduating from Geneva High School, Eleanor (Ellie) Knott attended Augustana College in Rock Island, IL in 1951. She worked in the sport's administrative office, where she met David Philip Hopley, one of Augustana’s star baseball and basketball players. Ellie and Dave married on December 22, 1956 and were wed for 54 years until his death.

Ellie and Dave had four daughters, Cheryl Ann, Sara Jo, Julie Elizabeth and Susan Eileen. During Dave’s 33-year career at Deere & Company, they lived in Moline, IL, Des Moines, IA, Rock Island, IL, Monterrey, Mexico, Dubuque, IA, Bettendorf, IA, Farmington Hills, MI and back to Moline, IL before retiring to Naples, FL in 1992. Eleanor was a homemaker who loved being the place where all the kids gathered to play in the neighborhood. She always had a creative game or project ready. Ellie finished her college education at Augustana at the age of 50 years old in 1983. She was an active member of the Lutheran church, an excellent cook, and an accomplished decorator (their Bettendorf home was featured in the Quad Cities Tour of Homes). She loved throwing parties and entertaining family and their many friends. She enjoyed playing golf, tennis, and bridge, earning a Sliver Life Master designation. She sat on several boards of directors, was a Girl Scout leader and a member of P.E.O. She and Dave also loved to travel, visiting many parts of the US and other countries.

She was preceded in death by her husband, David P. Hopley, in 2011, and moved to Colorado Springs to be close to her four daughters in 2012. Her fifth child, a son, was deceased at birth. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Rachel Knott, all four of her brothers and their wives, Dick (Rose), Jack (Kay), Jerry (Mary), Howard (Theresa), nephews James Knott, Greg Knott and Richard Knott, niece Patricia Knott Renner as well as her husband’s parents, Philip and Verda Hopley, brother-in-law and his wife Ronald and Joanne Hopley, nephew Eugene Hopley and niece Barbara Hopley Morris.

Ellie is survived by her four daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren, Cheryl (Darrel Fox) Hopley, Sara (Alan) Boatz (Ellie and Caroline Boatz), Julie (Steve) Brant (Jennifer (Kyle) Balk and Anna Staszewski), and Susan (Robert) Horner (Kelsey (Vincent Okot) Brouwer) as well as many nieces and nephews.

A private family memorial service will be held at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Colorado Springs, CO at a later date. She will be laid to rest with her beloved husband. Please leave a memory below.

Memorials in her name can be made to the David P. Hopley and Eleanor K. Hopley Family Memorial Scholarship fund:

Online: https://www.augustana.edu/giving/endowment/scholarships

By Mail: Send check made out to Augustana College to Augustana College Advancement 639 38th St., Rock Island, Ill., 61201

By Phone: 309-794-7545

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MtViewMortuary.com for the HOPLEY family.