Uta Bartkowski

1944 - 2025

Uta Bartkowski
1944 - 2025
With great sadness we announce that Uta Bartkowski passed away on Saturday April 5th peacefully and surrounded by her family after a short decline.
Uta was born on January 17th, 1944, in Schweinfurt, Germany to her mother, Christa (Kriele) Schneider and her father, Hans Gebhardt.
Uta was raised in Schweinfurt with her younger brother, Harro. She was very close to her grandparents and in her spare time she enjoyed the fencing club (which was a sport in which her whole family participated) and spending time with her close childhood friends.
In 1965 Uta met and married a US Officer, Jeff Keith (her first husband) and moved to the USA (Manchester, CT) where she raised her two children, participated in the Manchester Jaycees, was a longtime volunteer at Manchester Hospital, worked in the "Crockery Shoppe" on Main Street and made many friends. Uta never fully lost her German accent, which resulted in an enduring and charming accent when she spoke.
Uta remarried in 1989 to Robert (Bob) Bartkowski and, as she had studied to become a Dental Assistant while growing up in Germany, she subsequently worked alongside her husband in his dental practice until their retirement in 2012. On weekends Uta and Bob enjoyed flying Bob's plane to various locations around the Northeast to enjoy the sights, eat meals in scenic locales and visit friends and family members. Uta learned to drive late in life and was proud of her ability to drive herself to her church and to her local supermarket. Ever a lover of sweets, she loved her "Chocolate Bug" …a brown VW Beetle.
Uta was a very social and friendly person, and she loved being the center of attention and talking to people. She loved to laugh and would chat with almost anyone who was nearby. She was fiercely proud of her children and grandchildren, and she would show their pictures to anyone who happened to be in her vicinity when her iPad was on hand.
Uta is survived by her husband, Robert Bartkowski and his sons Doug Bartkowski (Kathy), Glen Bartkowski (Cindy), by her daughter, Sandra Brazo (Shawn), her son Mark Keith (Cynthia) and by grandchildren Nicholas Keith (Nicole), Tanya Beck (Bryan), Lindsay Jones (Dallas), Zachary Brazo (Katherine), Maxwell Brazo and Alexandra Brazo, and by 4 great grandchildren (with another on the way).
She was predeceased by her father, Hans Gebhardt, her mother, Christa Schneider (Walter), and her brother, Harro Gebhardt.
Uta will be remembered by all for her love of family, her friendliness and warmth, her love of dancing, her sweet tooth, her love of dressing up, and for her strong faith.
Visiting hours will be this Friday, April 11th from 11:00am -1:00pm at the John F. Tierney Funeral Home located at 219 West Center St, Manchester, CT.
An additional viewing will be held at 9:30am on Saturday, April 12th, followed by a church service at 10:00am at Manchester Church of the Nazarene located at 218 Main St., Manchester, CT followed by a burial at Holy Cross Cemetery located at 17 Wickham Rd, Glastonbury, CT 06033. For online condolences, please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.