Obituary of Elsie Chytka

   Lake Andes - Elsie Chytka, 95 died at Lake Andes Healthcare Center on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Funeral service will be Friday, March 29, 2019 at 10:30 AM at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Lake Andes with burial following in St. Mark's Catholic Cemetery in Lake Andes. Visitation will be Thursday, March 28, 2019 from 5 - 7 PM at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Lake Andes with wake service at 7:00 PM. Arrangements by Koehn Bros. Funeral Home in Lake Andes.

   Elsie Chytka of Lake Andes, SD passed away March 26, 2019 at Lake Andes Senior Living at the age of 95.  Elsie was born September 23, 1923 near Lake Andes, South Dakota to John and Rose (Tucek) Carda, the 12th of 13 children.  Elsie attended country school near Lake Andes.  As a teenager, she worked in her dad’s pool hall in Lake Andes.  At the age of 18, Elsie boarded a train with Elsie Bromert and traveled to Shreveport, LA to be with her soon to be husband, Raymond Chytka.   She married Raymond on March 26, 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was stationed in the United States Army Air Corps.  While in Shreveport, Elsie was employed as a waitress.  The couple resided in Shreveport until WWII ended, at which time they returned to Lake Andes.  Elsie was employed at Andes Pharmacy, which later became known as Wollmans Pharmacy, for many years.  Elsie enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing, quilting and playing cards.  She took pride in her dill pickles that were made from cucumbers she raised.  Elsie resided in her home until April of 2018 when she entered Lake Andes Senior Living. 

   Elsie grew to love baseball at an early age while watching her brothers play on “The Carda Baseball Team”.  In her later years she became an avid Chicago Cubs fan and enjoyed watching them on TV.   One of her greatest baseball memories was having her son’s teener team win the state baseball championship; however, that was upstaged in 2016 when her beloved Cubs won the World Series!  In addition to baseball, she enjoyed watching any sports her children and grandchildren were playing in and she never missed a home game.  

   Elsie is survived by 4 children:  Dennis of McCook Lake, SD; Wendy (Terry) Lacey of Omaha, NE; Terry of Yankton, SD and Carla Winckler of Lake Andes, SD, 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.  She is also survived by 3 sisters-in-law: Hazel Carda of Yakima, WA; Emily VandeMheen of Lake Okeechobee, FL; and Rose (Henry) Prien of Tripp, SD, many nieces and nephews and her lifelong friend, Elsie Bromert of Wagner, SD.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Ray   on March 20, 2004, brothers: Joe, Louis, Steve, Anton, Bill, Ray, Ed, Leo, and Alvin and sisters: Mary Payer, Leone Hayek and Sylvia “Skip” VanDeBrake.