This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Robert Wittich, 68, born on December 16, 1944 and passed away on July 10, 2013. We will remember him forever.
Tributes
Leave a tributeYour brother, Jim
Today would have been your 71 th birthday. Happy Birthday. Life is very difficult without you, but we are doing the best we can. You would be very proud of how well Bobby is handling all his tests and issues. I miss you all the time.
Love, Rita
Love from us,
B.A.N.K
I remember rolling down the hills of LeMoyne with you to catch the green hats we bought for the pep rally that no one liked but you & me.
Miss you very much.
The thought of you makes me smile. A sad smile sometimes. But a smile none the less. Loveya
Happy Trails.
With all our love to Rita and Bobby.
Laura and Bob
Love you.
Years may pass but my memories of the times with you, Mrs W and Bob are with me forever. I miss our conversations and laughing with you. You will always be my role model and friend. Eternal peace KT.
We love you,
Bill, Nicole, Kayla, Aiden
Miss you bro! Think of you all the time.
Love Rich
Always know that people think about you and that you are missed. Thanks again for inviting me down for Spring Training. It was something that I always wanted to see.
With our deepest love we think of Rita and Bobby.
Love,
Laura and Bob
Love, Wayne and Linda Ferbert
Miss you every day.
Miss and love you.
I uploaded a birthday card photo for you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Today would have been your 70th. Maybe we would have had a big party. Bobby and I celebrated for you by having lunch at the club. The sky was very blue and the weather was great. I know you would have loved it.
I can't even put into words how much I miss you---everyday,all the time, 24/7.
I love you and always will.
Rita
Over this summer, I was diagnosed with stage one lung cancer, had lung surgery and lucky for me, it did not spread so no further treatment was needed. It was a miracle it was found. All along that frightening journey, I knew I had a guardian angel on my shoulder and I knew it was you; guiding me while I made difficult decisions, giving me the strength to do what I needed to do and helping me not be so damn scared. Just like you did all my life.
Thanks for being the awesome man, husband, father, brother, and friend that you were; you left us all with so many wonderful memories.
Love you forever dear brother.
Tee
You would be proud of how your family and friends have come together over the last year to remember you and honor you; how they have all shown support and love for your family.
Of course, as my Big Brother, I have many fond memories of times we shared. With less than 6 years separating us in age, I can remember you as a teenager, full of life - smart, funny, always leading. As an adult leading the way for us all.
We shared many times together later in life. While we attended St. John's U - me an undergraduate while you were in the law school; later as parents, struggling with all of the issues of raising children and keeping families together; then as business partners for more than a decade; and always as friends.
I miss you and think of you every day. I am sorry you suffered and mourn for all that we have lost when you left us.
Sleep well bro.
Jim
Love,
Wes
Hard to believe it has been a year. Even harder to find the words to say how much I miss you and love you.
Love
Rich
They walk beside us everyday
Unseen, unheard, but always near
Still loved, still missed and very near.
One year has passed absent of stimulating, entertaining, and enlightening conversations with you (always accompanied by your great chuckle and smile that I can picture in my mind right now). May God bless the Wittich family, Rita, and Bobby and you will be forever missed, never forgotten, and loved always.
We Love You (King Turkey),
Bill, Nicole, Kayla, Aiden White
Time and again he would throw himself into causes great and small, stick his neck out for the sake of a grand principle, or simply an overlooked person in need – then make a self-deprecating aside in mockery of his own earnestness. Often this would come as a slow-motion wink, as if to say “I know what I’m saying sounds like baloney, but isn’t this great fun?” He never mistook his adversary for his enemy, never let principled struggle devolve into personal animosity. He was the embodiment of Shakespeare’s description of good advocates of all kinds, who “fight tooth and nail in court but eat and drink as friends.”
Bob took important things seriously, but never himself. He had the wit to put blowhards in their place, the awareness to recognize a person’s unspoken suffering, the strength to help someone in need, and the generosity to make it seem a small thing. He had the ability to help us find the best in ourselves - and then give us the credit.
To him, “the least of my brethren” was not a vague concept - it was how he lived his life. We are all better for his having touched our lives. Goodbye, old friend.
Rest in Peace!
You left us a year ago. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and sometimes it feels like forever. I am heartbroken that you had to suffer so much. I know that you, the most beautiful, kind, loving, funny intelligent man, still live in my heart. You would be humbled to read the beautiful way your loving family and friends speak of you and remember you. You were larger than life and had a lasting positive impact on so many lives. I will miss you and love you forever.
To all of our family and friends,
I thank you for the wonderful outpouring of love and support, and for sharing your special love and memories of Bob in your tributes to him. Bob loved you all dearly.
Rita
Leave a Tribute
ProCall@aol.com
"Good morning Robert. At last spring has arrived with a flourish of colour and freshness after a long, wet, Wagga Wagga winter. This e-mail is being sent from home instead of my office as I have finally retired. Yes, I know it's about time you say! This mornings news has the European economy improving, at least the northern part, and China too. Our All Ord's is nearing 5,200 - a five year high - and there is a lot more green than red on my watch list. Our Reserve bank meets today but the expectation is that our benchmark rate will stay at 2.50% especially given we go to the polls on Saturday to rid ourselves of Kevin Rudd. With a new government and renewed consumer confidence it is hoped, especially from a retiree's perspective, that further rate cuts will not be necessary. I see that my beloved METS failed to sweep the Nat's as they struggle to finish the year on a positive note. Let me know what you think about your mate's decision to 'flick the ball' to congress re Syria? I had better go. I think Hezz has jobs lined up for me. Retirement! Yea! Give my love to Rita and Bobby."
Sadly, I know I will not get a response from my mate. But if I did, it would have been prompt, insightful, warm and witty. Since our return to Oz in 1986, Bob was the 'penfriend' I never had as a youngster. I greatly miss this contact.
In some ways, Bob was the 'big' brother I never had. I 'looked up' to him; enjoyed his missives; his trips to Oz; his interaction with my adult children and my grandchildren; his beautiful reflection of my only son, Peter; his pronunciation of 'gidday mate'; his dismissal of a handshake for a bear hug; sharing a cold beer whether it be a VB or a Bud; his choice of Italian restaurants; his Spanish; and his overwhelming generosity. I admit to not enjoying (the next morning) our sharing of a bottle of JD and a cigar.
Bob you are and will remain a good mate.
Bob in the 1950s
For those of you who only knew Bob as an adult you would easily recognize him as a youth. Bob was a happy and confident boy, and if he wasn’t outright leading an activity, he was always involved in the leadership. Summertime was the best. I remember endless games of punchball, stickball, stoopball, skelzies, “Johnny on the pony”, ringolevio, and kick the can. Bob always made sure I was included. Of course, the touch football games in City Park were classic, as were the two full tackle football games he set up between the boys from St. James and St. Augustine in Memorial Park. Most of us only had helmets and the hits were brutal, but so much fun.
I distinctly remember the happiness of being rewarded by Bob with an ice-cold Hires root beer after helping him with his extensive paper route one hot summer afternoon, and the excitement as he introduced me to his hideout in a subway tunnel which we accessed by scaling the granite abutment of the Manhattan Bridge on the corner of Sand and Jay streets and squeezing through some pulled back fencing under the walkway. Bob was adventurous and courageous. He was everything you wanted in a big brother
Submitted for Andrew Hirschhorn
With the image of his smirk accompanied by a laugh frozen in my memory, it’s hard to imagine that this same person could be so intimidating to me as a child. “Mr. Wittich” was that big scary guy… you know that one adult you remember as a kid that for some reason instilled you with a certain fear. But I’ll never forget the time when the big scary guy delivered one of the all-time classic lines to end the Little League baseball game for the ages.
With seven different pitchers, a marathon of walks, and darkness threatening to end a game that lasted so long nobody knew which team was winning; Geoff Berman threw the infamous pitch that would turn a semi-comatose crowd into frenzy. In an instant, umpire Bob Wittich was given the not so good fortune of being at the center of the biggest controversy in the history of the Larchmont Little League. Long story short, the pitch bounced before it reached home plate and the batter somehow managed to make contact and get a hit, seemingly defying the laws of physics. Nobody had ever seen this before… a pitch being hit on a bounce. Is it live? Should the kid run to first base? Is it a do over? Faster than you can grab your cell phone, the familiar roar when someone gets a hit was heard throughout and what ensued was a 10-minute display of everything that is wrong with youth sports… parents on the field screaming at each other, fingers pointing. There was yelling, shouting, flailing arms, altercation, and total pandemonium… all while innocent nine-years-olds stood dumfounded. Soon order was restored and the game ended prematurely on account of general ridiculousness.
During the proverbial insincere hand shake, the once silent Little Leaguers began to argue with one another while exhausted emotionless parents methodically began packing up for the night. “No, we won,” said one child. “No we did, it was 8 to 7,” said another. “No it was 7 to 6, we won,” added a third child. As the volume of voices escalated with more kids from each team joining the debate, a new altercation began to emerge. It was then that a stern, commanding, loud voice came over the Little Leaguers from the big scary Mr. Wittich that silenced all. “Hey stop that right now… you guys are old enough to know not to act like your parents!” A line that cut the tension completely and belongs in the Henny Youngman Hall of Fame. I can still hear the laughs from all the adults in the background. Mr. Wittich, your sense of humor will be missed!
--Andrew Hirschhorn