William "Bill" Wittmann

Bill (William) Wittmann

DATE OF PASSING: Sept. 16, 2019

On Monday, September 16, 2019, at the age of 78, with his family surrounding him, Bill (William) Wittmann, loving husband, Dad and Opa, passed away at Saint Boniface Hospital. Left to cherish his memory are his beloved wife Judy; daughters Angie (Fern) and Wendy (Chris); sons Darren (Trish), Kevin (Susan) and Ryan (Myranda); his grandchildren Wyatt, Zoee, Tyrul, Lauren, Brenden, Jenna, Carter, Brayden, Phoenix, Alanna (Gabe) and Alden (Carrie) and great-grandchildren Madison, Chris, Tyson, Emmett and Joey. Also left to cherish his memory are Bill's brother John (Roberta); as well as nieces Susan, Lori, Beth and Kara and nephew Michael; and many cousins. Bill was predeceased by his mother and father, Katharina and Josef, and sister Hilda (Mac).

Bill was born Nov. 18, 1940 in Lebenstedt, Germany and grew up the oldest of three children. He came to Canada with his family in 1949 when he was 8 years old, and they settled in the North-End of Winnipeg where he remained for the rest of his life. He didn’t have a middle-name, but if he did it would have been “Trouble”, based on the stories we’ve been told of his youthful misadventures. He survived those years and eventually ended up working at Brigdens of Winnipeg in their Advertising Art department while taking a Graphic Art course in the evenings, then spent over 20 years in the produce department at Loblaws/Superstore until he retired.

He met the love of his life, Judy in 1968 and after a short courtship they were wed and have been married for almost 51 years. They started a family and enjoyed camping all over Canada in their truck camper, travelling north, east and west from coast to coast to visit relatives. They also made many trips south to the USA to attend car shows and swap meets, taking their children with them everywhere they went.

Bill had a life-long passion for “old cars” and spent countless hours repairing and restoring (but rarely driving) his own vintage cars. After Judy, the second love of his life was his ’34 Ford 5-window coupe, the one that got away! A car he said he probably pushed more than drove. If he had one regret in life, it was that he didn’t hang onto that one.

As well as cars, he had a life-long love for music, a passion he shared with his wife Judy, which extended through his entire family. He played accordion from a young age, and eventually wound up in duos and bands often found playing polkas in various clubs and social events around town. Bill and Judy also enjoyed jive dancing with the Forever Young Dance Club, and spent many years modern square-dancing and often could be found spinning on the dance floor doing the polka.

As he approached retirement, Bill had a saying “Once I retire, I don’t have to do anything, anymore!” This however didn’t quite hold true. After spending many an evening watching old western movies, Bill quickly became surrounded by a growing family, with many grandchildren filling his retirement time with giant sleepovers, attending various sporting events, concerts and recitals, and playing games around the kitchen table (whether he wanted to or not)! Bill and Judy have also really enjoyed the activities, games, classes and great friends they have made at the Good Neighbours Active Living Centre on Henderson Highway.

Though he didn’t have his own pets, he was a very loving and generous Opa to all the “grand dogs and cats” in his life, as evidenced by his pockets full of treats and chews anytime he visited!

Opa will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him! All his family, friends, buddies and all the people he would just stop and chat with, will all miss the quirky, often non-sensical stories he told.

The family would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the hard-working doctors, nurses and staff at the Bergen Cardiac Care Unit of St. Boniface Hospital. A service to celebrate his life will be held on Monday, Sept. 23 at 2pm at the Atlantic-Garden City United Church, 725 Atlantic Ave, Wpg. Donations may be made to the Good Neighbours Charity (GNALC), 720 Henderson Hwy.

You are welcome and encouraged to use the parking lot of St. Nicolas, the other church located across the street at 737 Bannerman Avenue (Although the service is not at St Nicolas, where dad also worshiped, they are kindly allowing funeral attendees to park in their lot.)

“Like a storybook ending, I'm lost in your charms and I could waltz across Texas with you”