Karen Kay Yellow

Karen Kay Yellow (Hillmer) age 70, of Boise, Idaho and formerly Rapid City, South Dakota passed away Friday February 15, 2019 at Life Care Center of Boise. She was born June 14, 1948 to James and Ethel (McIlravy) Hillmer.
Karen was the 10th of 11 children of James and Ethel and grew up in Canning, South Dakota in a 2 bedroom farmhouse. Karen lived in nearby Pierre South Dakota in order to attend high school and after graduating attended Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota earning a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1970. Karen married after college and taught high school at Fort Thompson, South Dakota having her daughter Donelle in 1974. Karen’s marriage lasted only a few years after Donelle’s birth and Karen and Donelle moved to Rapid City, South Dakota in 1979. Karen lived and worked in Rapid City working a number of jobs until finding long-term employment with Control Data, (later called SCI) building computer internal hardware and electrical componentry. Karen worked at SCI for 25+ years while also raising her daughter Donelle. Family and friends were always nearby and a constant presence in her and Donelle’s daily life. In 2013 after overcoming a severe medical issue, Karen moved to Vancouver, Washington to live with Donelle and her family and again in 2015 to Boise, Idaho. Karen will be remembered for her love of arts and crafts, whether it be sewing children’s clothes, crocheting, painting, helping her granddaughters with their arts and crafts projects, reading her romance novels and putting together puzzles.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Donelle and Rod Engle, granddaughters Ella and Eve; siblings, Mary Lou and Daryll Stuart, Clyde and Nell Hillmer, Doug and Peggy Hillmer, Rex and Debbie Hillmer; sister-in-law, Bev Hillmer and sister-in-law, Alice Hillmer and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; and siblings, Ellis, Ivan, Dale, Gary, Marjorie and Dixie King.
A celebration of Karen’s life will be held June 14, 2019, in Pierre, SD.
A Special Thank You to the staff at Life Care Center of Boise for their compassion and care and Tracy Zamzow for her care and compassionate assistance to Karen and family with peritoneal dialysis.