I'm just being notified that Gary Bittner has passed away. There is no information other than he's now in the Memory Section. Does anyone know anything about this? Who posted it? Gary was such a nice fellow -- I remember him as tall, blonde/red headed. Smart, quiet...but really a nice fellow.
BITTNER, Gary J., age 68, April 3, 2016. Dear father of Charles (Tone) Bittner, Kimberly Bittner, Julie Bittner and Jennifer Bittner. Proud grandfather of Alicia and great-grandfather of Aubree. Beloved brother of Bruce Bittner, Bonnie Miroslaw and the late Cheryl McCrum. He served in the Army during Vietnam Conflict. His visitation will be on Thursday from 2 p.m. until time of Funeral Service at 5 p.m. at Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, 8459 Hall Road (3 block east of Van Dyke) Utica. Please share a memory with his family at: www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com.
Published in The Macomb Daily on Apr. 5, 2016
There is a picture with his obituary but I was unable to insert it.
Gary Bittner, Gino Cattenacci, Joe Lucido and I have remained friends since high school.We have attended our kids' graduation parties and weddings thru the years. Joe and I met in grade school and became friends with Gary and Gino when we played football together at Denby High School.
Gino gave me a call telling me Gary had passed away. Gino and I and our wives attended his funeral. Gary's Family siad he died in his sleep from a heart attack. It was a very nice service. His three daughters and son gave a beautiful eulogy of their dad.
Gary was a very good athlete. He was instrumental in the success of the 1963 Denby football team winning the high school championship and the Goodfellows Game.He was an average size guy and with his red hair and fair complexion he didn't look intimidating but the opponents' found out quickly he was someone to be reckoned with. He played hard and when he hit someone they were usually slow to get up.That season Gary was given the honor of All City recognition. From that day on Gary acquired the nick name "All City Bitty.
I remember a Denby baseball game I attended and Gary was the catcher. There were two players on base. The batter hit a line drive to the outfield, it was fielded and thrown to home plate. Gary caught the ball turned to the two runners coming down the third baseline, got into his football stance blocking the plate and lowered his shoulder into the first runner knocking him off the base path and then proceeded to do the same to the second runner. Both runners were out. This is how Gary played and how he met adversity in life,head on.
On the humorous side I would like to share a short story when the four of us decided we all needed to get a car so we could date some of those awesome looking girls at Denby High. We all worked part time jobs after school and on weekends. We all found cars to buy for around $100.00. I found a powder blue Plymouth. All it needed was a gallon can of Bondo patch and a few cans of powder blue spray paint too cover all the rust. Gino found an old silver Oldsmobile Rocket 88 convertible with red leather interior. The top was ripped apart and the rain would pour in. Gino got creative and bought enough silver duct tape to cover the entire convertible top. Gary bought an old green Buick but the paint was peeling off. He bought a gallon can of green paint and a paint roller and rooled on a new paint job. It looked best on rainy days. Our plan worked. We all were fortunate enough to sweet talk some of the girls into going on a date. A second date was the hard part.
Those were the good old days at Denby High. We will all miss you Gary.
Edie Meyer (Richardson)
I'm just being notified that Gary Bittner has passed away. There is no information other than he's now in the Memory Section. Does anyone know anything about this? Who posted it? Gary was such a nice fellow -- I remember him as tall, blonde/red headed. Smart, quiet...but really a nice fellow.
Dave Loersch
Seems to me he was All-City baseball, football and basketball at different times during his 3 years at Denby.
Alas, like most of my classmates after graduation, other than occasionally seeing him hitting balls at Jawor's, we lost touch.
Arliss Manson
Bob Ambrite asked that I post this:
BITTNER, Gary J., age 68, April 3, 2016. Dear father of Charles (Tone) Bittner, Kimberly Bittner, Julie Bittner and Jennifer Bittner. Proud grandfather of Alicia and great-grandfather of Aubree. Beloved brother of Bruce Bittner, Bonnie Miroslaw and the late Cheryl McCrum. He served in the Army during Vietnam Conflict. His visitation will be on Thursday from 2 p.m. until time of Funeral Service at 5 p.m. at Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, 8459 Hall Road (3 block east of Van Dyke) Utica. Please share a memory with his family at: www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com.
Published in The Macomb Daily on Apr. 5, 2016
There is a picture with his obituary but I was unable to insert it.
Al Perkowski
Al Perkowski
Gary Bittner, Gino Cattenacci, Joe Lucido and I have remained friends since high school.We have attended our kids' graduation parties and weddings thru the years. Joe and I met in grade school and became friends with Gary and Gino when we played football together at Denby High School.
Gino gave me a call telling me Gary had passed away. Gino and I and our wives attended his funeral. Gary's Family siad he died in his sleep from a heart attack. It was a very nice service. His three daughters and son gave a beautiful eulogy of their dad.
Gary was a very good athlete. He was instrumental in the success of the 1963 Denby football team winning the high school championship and the Goodfellows Game.He was an average size guy and with his red hair and fair complexion he didn't look intimidating but the opponents' found out quickly he was someone to be reckoned with. He played hard and when he hit someone they were usually slow to get up.That season Gary was given the honor of All City recognition. From that day on Gary acquired the nick name "All City Bitty.
I remember a Denby baseball game I attended and Gary was the catcher. There were two players on base. The batter hit a line drive to the outfield, it was fielded and thrown to home plate. Gary caught the ball turned to the two runners coming down the third baseline, got into his football stance blocking the plate and lowered his shoulder into the first runner knocking him off the base path and then proceeded to do the same to the second runner. Both runners were out. This is how Gary played and how he met adversity in life,head on.
On the humorous side I would like to share a short story when the four of us decided we all needed to get a car so we could date some of those awesome looking girls at Denby High. We all worked part time jobs after school and on weekends. We all found cars to buy for around $100.00. I found a powder blue Plymouth. All it needed was a gallon can of Bondo patch and a few cans of powder blue spray paint too cover all the rust. Gino found an old silver Oldsmobile Rocket 88 convertible with red leather interior. The top was ripped apart and the rain would pour in. Gino got creative and bought enough silver duct tape to cover the entire convertible top. Gary bought an old green Buick but the paint was peeling off. He bought a gallon can of green paint and a paint roller and rooled on a new paint job. It looked best on rainy days. Our plan worked. We all were fortunate enough to sweet talk some of the girls into going on a date. A second date was the hard part.
Those were the good old days at Denby High. We will all miss you Gary.
Thank You for being our friend.