Lena Audrey (Welch) Koltiska, 76, of Sheridan died Saturday, Jan. 15, 2005, in Sheridan Memorial Hospital.

Vigil service will be 7 p.m. Wednesday at Champion Ferries Funeral Home. Funeral liturgy will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Holy Name Catholic Church with the Rev. Thomas Ogg officiating. Burial will be in Sheridan Memorial Cemetery.

Mrs. Koltiska was born Feb. 21, 1928, in Big Horn to Everett J. and Maggie (Verley) Welch. She attended grade school at Big Horn and McCormick and was a 1945 graduate of Sheridan High School.

She married George Koltiska on Sept. 14, 1946, at the home of her sister on Lower Prairie Dog. The Koltiskas resided on their ranch on Cat Creek.

She was a Certified Nurse Assistant and worked at Sheridan Memorial Hospital for more than 30 years. She also worked as an Avon representative.

She enjoyed sewing, quilting, needlework, knitting and crocheting. She also enjoyed weekly garage sale excursions. She was a 4-H leader for 25 years and took hundreds of children to Mountain Camp. She was past president of the Does.

She was preceded in death by her husband; two brothers, Junior and Kao Welch; and five sisters, Marjorie Ensor, Florence "Shorty" Boyer, Mary Ellen Good Palmier, Ruth Sherard and Rosalie McCalla.

Survivors include two sons, Gary and Robert; two daughters, Audrey Koltiska and Deborah Adams; a sister, Margaret Pilch; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Lena Koltiska Arbor Fund in care of Brenda Torrens, Bank of the West, P.O. Box 9000, Sheridan, WY 82801.