ST. JAMES, NY — Days after Kelly Coppola and her boyfriend Kenneth Pohlman were shot and killed — her ex-husband has been accused of the crime that left lives shattered and hearts broken — the Long Island community is coming together to support the daughter Coppola left behind.
And, too, family and lifetime friends are sharing memories of a woman they say filled their lives with endless joy and love.
A GoFundMe, Support Gianna After Tragic Loss, has been created by the Patton family to help Gianna, 15, Coppola’s beloved daughter.
“As many of you know, the tragic loss of Kelly Coppola and Kenneth Pohlman is devastating for all of their families, and anyone who was blessed to have known them. Kelly’s love for her daughter Gianna was unmatched, and so it is in her memory that we ask for donations to help our niece Gianna. Your generous donations are greatly appreciated and will be used for Gianna’s future education and well-being expenses.”
Daniel Coppola, 50, of Head of the Harbor, faces murder charges after he shot and killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend in St. James on Wednesday night, Suffolk police said Thursday. Coppola was accused of killing his former wife, Kelly Coppola, 50, and Kelly’s boyfriend, Kenneth Pohlman, 53, at their Brasswood Road home, Detective/Lieutenant Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Department homicide squad, told reporters. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, authorities said.
Left reeling by shock and loss, Coppola’s family is remembering Kelly, whose bright smile and caring heart, they say, will live on forever in the lives she touched.
Lori Patton, Kelly’s sister-in-law —Lori is married to Kelly’s brother Ryan; the siblings also have another brother, Kyle — spoke with Patch about the family’s unthinkable loss.
Kelly, she said, “radiated positivity.”
She added, “She was very, very close to her brothers. Kelly was very much a family-oriented person,” she said. “She wanted everyone together, all the time.”
Kelly, she said, loved her extended family, including her stepbrother and sister, Keith and Courtney. And, too, she adored her nieces and nephews.
“We called her the BAE — the ‘best auntie ever,'” Patton said.
Although she was a busy mom dedicated to her daughter, Kelly also worked in accounting at a media company. And she always made time for her nieces and nephews, making sure she was there for soccer games and school events.
Kelly’s parents John and Karin, as well as John’s wife Barbara, have been rocked by the loss of their beautiful girl, Patton said. “They are devastated.”
Kelly, she said, “was the ultimate Daddy’s girl. She was so close to both of her parents; she called her mother every single day. She was the apple of her father’s eye.”
Patton, who met her husband in high school, has known his big sister Kelly, seven years older, since then — 27 years of memories and laughter and love.
Kelly and her brothers attended Sachem High School, she said. “She was always beautiful and fun,” she said. “Kelly had so many friends she cared about — she kept in contact with everyone. She had such a light inside of her. She was a bubbly human being who always spread joy. She always had a smile on her face.”
For Kelly, life was brimming with joy and dreams. She celebrated her 50th birthday in June. “Kenny threw her this gorgeous party,” Patton said. “It was amazing. It was such a wonderful night, with all the family and friends together.”
But no matter how full of laughter and light Kelly’s life was, it was her daughter, her beautiful Gianna, who was her everything, Patton said.
“Gianna was the center of her world,” she said. “They were extremely close.”
Kelly was filled with pride for Gianna, who is extremely active in competitive cheer. “A lot of their world was cheer competitions, and Kelly took the time to always be there,” she said. “Her goal was making sure Gianna was provided for — and also, doing things for Gianna. Taking her on vacations or into the city, or to Great Adventue or Disney World. She wanted to make Gianna as happy as possible.”
Gianna, Patton said, is “beautiful, inside and out,” a testament to the love her mother poured into her only child. Very close to her cousins, the family shared trips to Disney and Myrtle Beach, making memories that live in photographs of cherished time spent together.
Kelly, Patton said, “was just always there. She had a great, great sense of humor.”
She and her brothers liked to tease and laugh, all in good fun — their lives laced with a deep and abiding love and affection, she said. They were brought up in a house were they had to clean their dinner plates, Patton said. “They called it the ‘clean plate club, the CPC,'” she laughed. “They loved to go to comedy shows; they all have a great sense of humor, that camaraderie. They were always texting and chatting; they loved spending time together. They were all, always, just really close.”
“Kelly was just the light of the family,” she said. “She was always at everything; she never missed any family event. She’s godmother to a niece and a nephew, and she took that so seriously. She loved our kids fiercely.”
And, Patton said, Kelly loved Christmas, savoring every second of the festivities. “She would decorate and dance and listen to Mariah Carey singing, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’ It was her favorite holiday.”
Her voice laced with tears, Patton said: “She was just one of those people. This is just such a loss. I can’t even begin to think about what the holidays will be like, without her.”
Kelly, she said, also loved the color pink and country music, singing her heart out at concerts. She went with the Pattons to the “Friends” exhibit in New York City; there were movie nights and laughter and family events.
“We just always did things together,” Patton said. “She wasn’t just a sister-in-law, she was a sister.”
Kelly, she said, “always told every0ne how much she loved them. Her love was boundless.”
While she was beautiful physically, her inner beauty and kindness left a mark on all the lives she touched forever.
There is comfort, Patton said, in the fact that Kelly was so very, very happy during the last months of her life, sharing life with her precious daughter, her family — and with Pohlman.
“After years of struggle through these other hardships, she finally met someone that was wonderful to her, not only not only taking care of her emotionally,” but filling her life with complete joy, Patton said.
“She was in love, for the first time in a long time. She embraced his family and he embraced Gianna and the rest of her family. They were both really family-oriented. The time she was with Kenny was the happiest of her life. We’ve never seen her with someone that treated her so well.”
Both loved to spend time with the ones they loved, Patton said. “Every night of the week, she want to have dinner with family,” she said. Kelly always made a point to be at games for Patton’s son, who’s involved with travel soccer. “Kelly and Kenny would say, ‘When can we come to his game and watch?’ They wanted to be there for all of those things. It was never like they were too busy. It was, ‘We’re going to make this work.'”
Reflecting on the tragedy that has shattered their family, Patton said. “It’s awful. There are so many lives that are affected by this.”
Her entire family has wrapped their collective arms around Kelly’s beautiful girl, blanketing her with love, she said. “She has a large support system.”
Kelly’s greatest wish was to see her daughter reach every star she ever wished upon, Patton said — and to be by her side as she grew and entered each new chapter in life.
“She just wanted to be there for her, every step of the way,” Patton said. “She wanted to give Gianna everything she ever wanted or dreamed of, whether it be cheer, in college, or whatever occupation she chooses to pursue — she was going to support that. They were so close. She was so involved, so hands-on. She was just always there for whatever Gianna needed.”
Besides her family, Kelly leaves behind a devoted, core group of lifelong friends, with ties that go back to high school, who are left shattered by grief, Patton said — Faye, Michelle, Kerry, Jill, and so many others who loved her. “She had a lifelong best friend, Meredith, who passed away at 38 from cancer. They were like sisters. She’s with her now.”
Everyone who loved Kelly has joined hands and hearts to help her girl through these dark days, Patton said.
“We’ve come together as family in every way,” she said.
Friends and the community have sent food, called, offered support.
Patton said she and her family were filled with gratitude for the many who’ve come forward, with so much kindness. “We want to give heartfelt thanks to the community, to the people that have surrounded us wtih love in this unimaginable time. The outpouring of love and emotion that everyone has is just is so comforting.”
As for Gianna, all of her friends, have reached out, willing and eager to help, Patton said. “She has a strong circle of friends.”
If she could speak to Kelly one more time, Patton said there is so much in her heart. “There’s so much I would like to say to her,” she said. “I would tell her that we are so lucky that we had you. And that we love you always.”
Reflecting on the unthinkable loss, she added: “It’s just unbelievable. It doesn’t actually feel real.”
Services for Kelly Coppola will take place at Moloney’s Holbrook Funeral Home, located at 825 Main Street in Holbrook, on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. A prayer service will be held Thursday at 8 p.m. at the funeral home; cremation will be private.
Kelly, Patton said, will live forever in the hearts of the scores who loved her. “She leaves behind an enduring legacy,” she said. “We will never forget her. And every time we look at Gianna, we will remember her light. She just shone on everyone.”
To donate to the GoFundMe for Gianna, click here.
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