Beata Marianna Kolaja

Beata Marianna Kolaja, age 86, of Morgantown, West Virginia, died in hospice care at Ruby Memorial Hospital on Monday February 2, 2026. Beata is survived by her two children Tom (Lisa) and Monica (Markus) Hottenrott; and her six grandchildren Maddie, Jonas, Isabella, Grazia, Maeve, and Gabriella.

Beata was born to German parents, Anna and Jan Oschietzki, in Chorzow, Poland, on August 4, 1939. After the end of World War II, Beata learned Polish, which she quickly mastered. She loved to learn and excelled in school and was her class president for multiple years. She began law school in Krakow at the Jagiellon University in 1959.

While in law school, a friend introduced her to a Czech-born American sociology professor in December 1961. The professor had Christmas cards to mail and Beata accompanied him to the post office. Little did she know that Cupid was watching them both, and the walk would lead to her falling in love with Jiri. They married in 1963 and she moved to Lexington, Kentucky, later that year where Jiri was on the Sociology faculty at the University of Kentucky. With the move, Beata started her third big adventure, learned English and became an American.

While in Lexington, Beata earned a B.A. in mathematics at the University of Kentucky. Freed from life behind the Iron Curtain, Beata was thrilled to be able to travel, and see the world. Tom, her son, was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada while Jiri was teaching at McMaster University. Monica, her daughter, was born shortly after the family moved to Morgantown in 1970, where Jiri was a Professor of Sociology at WVU. Beata received an MBA from WVU in 1983 and served as the Head Accountant for the WVU Department of Surgery from 1985 until her retirement in 2013.

Beata was always itching for a new adventure. She loved how Jiri prodigiously applied for international fellowships, grants and academic research exchange programs. Beata was always excited to pack up four suitcases, grab the kids, and travel for 6 months to a year most anywhere Jiri’s research led. The family lived in Romania, England, Holland, Yugoslavia, Poland, Germany and Czech Republic, traveling extensively across Europe as the kids grew up. Following in their parents’ footsteps, both Tom and Monica spent many years abroad. Tom worked and raised his family in Germany, Poland and the UK, and Monica worked and raised her family in Germany and the UK. Beata loved spending weeks at a time visiting her grandkids in Europe, in particular in London and in the Alps in Oberstdorf, Germany, trips she would take more frequently after Jiri passed in 2003 and after she retired.

Beata was an adoring Babi, as she was known, to Maddie, Jonas, Isabella, Grazia, Maeve and Gabriella. She loved all of them for their bravery, kindness and curiosity. Most of all she loved that they all enjoyed each other’s company.

Morgantown, however, was her home for the last 55 years. In the last decades, Beata was an active student in OLLI, WVU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. She would make sure she was always in town while classes were in session. She also cherished her close friend groups in Morgantown, with whom she regularly met, exercised and shopped. She was also overjoyed when her kids moved back to the US over the past few years, so that they could visit her regularly in Morgantown.

Beata was a wonderful mother, Babi, and friend. While we will miss her terribly, her family takes great comfort in knowing that Beata left this world, albeit more abruptly than expected, living the life she wanted to live and having a positive impact on everyone she met along the way.

A Celebration of Life will take place at the Erickson Alumni Center, 1 Alumni Dr, Morgantown, WV on Sunday, March 1st beginning at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers, those interested may make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, an institution she has supported for years. Her memorial fund can be located at this link: https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=9131506&fr_id=154020&pg=personal

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.hastingsfuneralhome.com