Barbara Bittner

Barbara Jean Bittner, 80, of St. Joseph, died at Corewell Health Lakeland Hospital on Nov. 10, 2025, due to complications from a fall in September.

A visitation will be held at Stevensville United Methodist Church on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m., with a memorial service following at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Barbara's name to Feeding America West Michigan.

Barbara was born to Raymond and Elma Parr in St. Johns, Mich., on Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945. Her father, then in the U.S. Navy, was about to deploy when the war ended. As a child, Barbara learned to play the piano, which became a lifetime passion. While in high school, she was an exchange student in West Berlin.

Barbara graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1967 with a bachelor of arts in English. She was already a third-generation alumnus of Michigan, a family tradition that would continue through her children and grandchildren.

At the 1965 Rose Bowl, Barbara met Rodger Bittner, a University of Michigan law student from Benton Harbor. They married the following year, and after Rodger's service in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in Vietnam, settled permanently in St. Joseph. Barbara later did graduate work at Michigan State University and Western Michigan University to receive her teaching credentials.

Over the years, Barbara devoted herself to teaching in the preschool program at Peace Temple United Methodist Church in Benton Harbor. She was active for several decades in the Women's Service League Benevolences; she was also the director of the Peace Partners after-school tutoring program in Benton Harbor and the pianist for the Peace Temple children's choir. As arthritis limited Barbara's mobility in recent years, she knitted children's ski caps for the mission work of Stevensville United Methodist Church. Barbara believed that injustice and inequity were most intolerable when children were impacted.

Barbara was most happy when her family gathered for the holidays or at her summer home on Lake Michigan. Her love for and pride in her children and grandchildren were boundless. Long before she mastered an iPhone, she carried a small album in her purse so she could share family photographs. It became a point of humor among her friends.

Barbara is survived by her sister Marcia Richmond of Canadian Lakes, Mich.; her brother James Parr of St. Johns, Mich.; her husband Rodger of St. Joseph; her son Stephen and daughter-in-law Nicole Slovak of Windsor, Calif.; her son Andrew and daughter-in-law Leigha Cuniberti of Brookline, Mass.; her grandchildren Mia, Ethan, Joshua and Zachary; and many nieces and nephews. Barbara was loved by many and will be dearly missed.