Eleanor Joan Bittinger, 93, of 14 Langford Street, Jamestown, NY, went to be with her Lord and Savior early in the morning of Monday, June 6, 2016. She was devoted to her faith and her love of Jesus.
Born April 24, 1923, to Stanley and Cecelia Grobowski Wisniewski in Erie, PA.
Her childhood days were spent on the family farm in Waterford, PA, along with her 11 brothers and sisters.
Eleanor met Joseph Edgar Bittinger in Erie, and it was love at first sight. They were married November 22, 1947, in Wesleyville, PA, and enjoyed 63 years of marriage with their seven children. Her life was centered around her husband until his death on March 12, 2011.
She was an elegant women with strength or character that was greatly respected and admired. However, Eleanor was most beautiful when she was reading her Bible. She used to say, “If you want the answer to life’s questions – read your Bible.”
Her employment career, besides raising seven children, included serving dinners at various restaurants in the area, woodwork at Kling’s Furniture, sales clerk at Bigelows Department Store, and retiring in 1985 as a bookkeeper for 16 years for Mid-East Consolidated in Falconer, NY.
Eleanor’s door was always open to all – family and strangers equally.
“According to Momma, strangers were friends we just hadn’t met yet. Momma treated everyone with love and respect.”
She loved canning, baking, cooking, dancing, and singing gospel music.
Her children’s most special memory of their mother was her smile and her kindness. She had a heart so filled with love that it seemed to flow out of her body like a river. No matter who you were or where she would meet you, there was always the words “thank you” and “God bless you.”
In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Gerald Joseph Joint; a grandson, John Henry Taylor; a great-grandson, Marcus Allan Mattson; and 11 brothers and sisters.
Surviving are six children, Francis Joint (Phyllis) of Ripley, NY, Dennis Bittinger of Clymer, NY, Eleanor J. Muscarella (Sam) of Jamestown, Lydia Taylor (John) of Jamestown, Joseph Bittinger (Linda) of Sherman, NY, and Jane Ann Condron (Larry) of Sugar Grove, PA; 16 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; 14 great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews in the Waterford area.
A graveside service will be held at the Whatcoat Cemetery in White Sulphur Springs, WV, at 10 AM on Saturday, June 11, 2016, with Pastor Gene Sizemore officiating.
A light luncheon will follow the service at the Pentecostal Church on Ingleside Avenue in White Sulphur Springs.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Chautauqua County, 20 W. Fairmount Avenue, Lakewood, NY 14750 or Gideon’s Bible.
Shanklin Funeral Home in White Sulphur Springs is serving the family.
Obituary originally published in the June 9, 2016, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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