Nellie Annette (Kyte) Kaley was born on August 16, 1948 in Fargo, North Dakota. She died unexpectedly on February 9, 2026 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. She was the youngest of four children born to Louis and Florence Kyte. The family lived on a farm near Lisbon, North Dakota. She and her siblings attended grade school at Aliceton Consolidated School and following that she went to Lisbon High School where she graduated in 1966. Nellie was the youngest of four and when she arrived home from the hospital her parents introduced her to her three older siblings as ‘Baby Sister’. That name stuck and it wasn’t until she entered 1st Grade that she was known by her given name Nellie. She soon realized that her special place in the family had some perks. She knew she could get away with a little more mischief than her older siblings. Growing up on the family farm cemented her life-long love of animals of all kinds. She loved feeding the “bottle” lambs and adopting them as pets. Newly born calves and pigs were met with lots of excited oohs and awes and “Oh, how cute, he can be mine”. The family dog, a small mixed breed named Dickie Dog, was a constant guardian and companion. When Nellie and her brother Louie were toddlers they decided to explore one of the corn fields. When Mom and Dad couldn’t find them they panicked and then they saw Dickie Dog jumping up and down and yipping in the field as if to signal their location. Nellie had just turned 11 years old when her father passed away and her mother died a year and a half later which devastated the family. From this early tragedy she grew into an incredibly strong woman. Nellie and her husband Dick Kaley (who sadly passed away just 11 months ago), and her kids lived on a hobby farm just outside Shakopee. She loved living on the farm and when the kids were young they had a menagerie of animals to care for — horses, goats, chickens, cats and dogs. Nellie’s life was not complete without animals and she had a special relationship with her dogs. In recent years she had Cocker Spaniels. She enjoyed showing them in dog shows and was proud that one of them had a 3-point major. She yearned for the day she would have a Champion. Nellie and Dick lived on their farm for their entire 38 year marriage. After his death Nellie moved from the farm to a new home in Bethel. She was always a best friend to her kids and incredibly proud and supportive of them. The same was true of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She loved Christmas and for the past 38 years, including this year just a month after moving into her new home, she hosted Christmas Eve. She loved decorating and having a beautiful tree as a backdrop for the loads of gifts that arrived on Christmas Eve. Nellie was preceded in death by her husband Dick Kaley, her parents Florence and Louis Kyte, her brother Louis Jr., and her sister Geraldine. She is survived by her children: Kimaree Arndt (Terry Abear) of Aitkin, Mn, Alicia (Eric) Bright of Clear Lake, Mn, Casey (Tiffany) Bender of Anoka, Mn and Sarah (Aaron) Thoreson of Jorden, Mn; grandchildren: Afton, Garin, Savannah, Callie, Lane, Sarah, Ruby, Magda, Korrie and Joseph; great grandchildren: Aubrey, Michael, Alara, Liam, Theodore, Evelyn, Landon and Willow. Also surviving are her sister Louise (Alex) Palmer of Eden Prairie and sister-in-law Nina Barta of Eagan.

A Celebration of Nellie’s Life will be held as follows:

Date: Thursday, February 26th — Visitation 10:00am; Service: 11:00am;

Location: Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home, 2005 Branch Avenue, Anoka, MN 55303

Luncheon: 12:00 Noon, American Legion Club, 400 West Main St, Anoka, MN 55303

Burial: Friday, February 27th at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Gathering time is 11:30am Meet on Assembly Area #3.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the UnderDog Rescue at https://underdogrescuemn.com/ are preferred.