James Wittmann

James Wittmann
January 23, 1950 - May 21, 2022
Greenwich - James Richard Wittmann, 72, of Greenwich, Connecticut, passed away on May 21, 2022, after an heroic, life-long struggle with Crohn's Disease. He survived on TPN (an intravenous feeding system) for 47 years as his source of daily nutrition. Despite his physical limitations, he loved and served God through countless hardships with great perseverance, was a humble and gracious friend to many and a sacrificial servant to all with whom he came in contact. While he is greatly missed, as the Scripture says in Revelation 14:13, he now "rests from his labors, and his works follow him."
James was born on January 23, 1950, to Richard and Anne Wittmann in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After he graduated from Greenwich High School, he went on to Leicester Junior College in Leicester, Massachusetts, and the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.
Due to his daily struggle with Crohn's disease, beginning at age 4, he worked for only a short time for the State of Connecticut Welfare Department. On October 16, 1974, he married Susan Strauss and subsequently had two children, Elizabeth and Sarah. After he was divorced, he later married Gloria Catolico.
Jim was predeceased by his still-born brother, John; his parents, Richard and Anne Wittmann; paternal grandparents, Henry and Emma Wittmann of Lincoln, Nebraska; and maternal grandparents, X. T. and Gladys Prentis of Mt. Ayr, Iowa. His sister, Barbara Blanchard, and her husband Tim live in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. He also has numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Services will be held at Greenwich Baptist Church on April 22, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., followed by a reception at the church. The family requests that donations be made to Oley Foundation, 99 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, NY 12054, (Joan Bishop, Executive Director) and to Gloria Wittmann, 229 Walkertown Avenue, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the James Richard Wittmann Philippine Parsonage Fund.