Helen Teresa Bittner

Helen “Teresa” Bittner entered her eternal repose on January 6, 2014 , at the age of 90, due to the complications of Alzheimer’s Dementia while she was rehabbing a fractured right hip at Citizen’s Care Center.  She was the 11th child of 11 children born to Mary (Duke) and Frank T. Bittner of Port Deposit and their only child born at the relatively new Harford Memorial Hospital on November 6, 1923.  Teresa graduated from Jacob Tome Institute in 1940 and from Beecom Business School in 1941.  She began her career that year at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a clerk typist and later served as secretary to the APG/EA Exchange Services General Manager, retiring in 1977 after 36 years of service to the federal government.  She then served as the Parish Secretary for nine pastors at Good Shepherd Church in Perryville until her final retirement in 2010 after 33 years of service. After she developed dementia in 2010 she enjoyed living at Golden Legends Assisted Living Facility in Port Deposit until it closed in 2011.  Teresa was a resident of Sunny Acres Assisted Living Facility in North East since 2011. Teresa never married but she stayed quite active with the Ladies Auxiliary to the Water Witch Fire Company, the Ladies Auxiliary to the VW Post 8185, and the Port Deposit Heritage Corporation – holding offices within all three organizations.  She was also a founding member of the Port Deposit Decorating Committee, she served on Port’s Election Board, and she chaired various events for Good Shepherd Parish including several Summer Festivals and all their St. Patrick’s Day Bull Roasts until her present illness. In recognition of Teresa’s life-long volunteerism, Good Shepherd Catholic School honored her in 2002 by establishing the “Teresa Bittner Service Award” which was presented to an eligible 8th grader at graduation each year. She was designated one of Cecil County‘s Most Beautiful People in 2004, and she was awarded the Order of Merit from the Diocese of Wilmington in 2007. She was predeceased by her parents, by her brothers Joseph F. Bittner, Francis T. Bittner, Jack Bittner, and Leo Bitner; and by her sisters Ella Bittner, Alice Bittner Sice, Anna M. Bitner, Dorothy Bittner Luglio, Mary A. Bittner, and Gertrude Bittner Hopkins.  Teresa is survived by her nieces and nephews:  John Sice, Mary Anne Bitner Kenner, Edgar P. Hopkins, Jr., Richard W. Hopkins, Susan W. Hopkins, Carol L. Hopkins, Amy Bittner Lipka, Peggy Bittner Arnold, Betty Bittner Espinosa, Mary Bittner, Helen Bittner McCollum, James Bittner, David Bittner, Wayne Bitner, Gary F. Bitner, Deborah Bitner Barton, Donna Bitner Evans, Michael Bitner, Leo Bitner, Dennis Bitner, Mary Beth Bitner Hennemuth, Patricia Bitner Knight, and JoAnne Luglio Bierly. In addition, Teresa is survived by numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews and many loving friends and co-workers.  By the way, the two different spellings of Bitner and Bittner are both correct. In the early part of the last century, Teresa’s dad, Frank T. Bittner, decided to drop a “t” in order to “save ink”– some of his children did the same, while the rest kept both t’s. Teresa enjoyed playing bingo, poker, and the slots at both Delaware Park and Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.  She liked photography and making albums for her friends.  She volunteered in the Paw Paw Museum and made delectable peanut butter fudge, pea soup, and bread pudding for her family and friends. Teresa was inducted into the Harford - Cecil Firemen’s Association Hall of Fame in 2012 (as an eligible member of the Water Witch Fire Company’s Ladies Auxiliary) and she was a member of the Cecil County Relay for Life team, “Bethany’s Angels” for 10 years. Teresa was a five- year breast cancer survivor. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Friends of St. Teresa, Good Shepherd Catholic School Scholarship Fund or to the American Cancer Society in Teresa’s memory in care of Lee A. Patterson & Son Funeral Home, P.A., P.O. Box 766, Perryville, MD  21903-0766. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, January 11, 2014, 1 PM, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 800 Aiken Avenue, Perryville,  MD.  Father Jay McKee of Good Shepherd Parish will officiate. Interment will be in  Brookview Cemetery, Rising Sun, MD.