My Aunt Janet was the last of the three Romberger kids to leave us. She passed of complications from pneumonia. In her most advanced years she became a lot like my father. Time can steal a lot, but her sparkling cheer was undiminished.
In her last year, she lived in a nursing home not far from where I live. I'd often go by and stop in, and she was always in good spirits and glad to see me. Like my dad, she had a playful mind, and would catch things being said and see humor where others might not. Throughout her life, she continued the Romberger tradition of being a great teaser, but she was also the one who always remembered family events, and never missed my birthday or anniversary.
It was her family (of the three Romberger kids) that was the only one to continue the other Romberger tradition of playing tennis. Like her dad and her aunt, she was quite good and had a healthy competative streak.
She appreciated beauty and good living, and delighted in good weather. I can remember sitting with her in an open courtyard at the nursing home, and her glorying in the beautiful day it was. She and her husband liked good food, and I remember her making a very special exotic curry dip to serve the evening I introduced my husband to be to the family.
She was a great hostess. Our Romberger family parties tended to rotate through the homes of my dad and his two sisters, and I always looked forward to going to her place. It was clean yet lived in. The food was always excellent, and you got really lucky if you were there when she and her husband Frank served up their hot crab dip. They had a good sized yard and patio with an awning, and a swinging sofa we kids would always jockey for because it was fun to rock on. The recreational basement was huge, boasting a ping pong table and bumper pool table, and it was the scene of a lot of childhood birthday parties too.
Aunt Janet always made me think of Judy Garland. She was thin, pretty, vulnerable and had great wet soulful brown eyes.
At her service at the church, a lot of things were said about her warmth, wit, and skills as a mom, wife and grandma, but what her daughter Kathy wrote about her life in her parents' home really stays with me: "I wouldn't have changed a thing."
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Janet R. Bittner, 82, of Allentown, died October 31, 2011, in the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Twp. She was the wife of the late Frank D. Bittner. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Born in Allentown, she was the daughter of the late Gilbert A. and Fay S. (Meckley) Romberger. Janet was a 1951 graduate of Cedar Crest College, Allentown. She was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown. She was a past active volunteer with the Young Republicans of Lehigh County, a past volunteer for the Junior Aide Society at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a former member of the Allentown Garden Club, a past member of the stewardship committee at the church, and a past volunteer at the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank. Survivors: Daughters; Tracy, wife of Jeffrey, of Orefield, and Katherine, wife of Dale, of Barto; four grandchildren.
Services: Memorial Service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown.
Contributions: May be made in her memory to the Church, 18102. Arrangements by the J. S. Burkholder Funeral Home, Allentown.
In her last year, she lived in a nursing home not far from where I live. I'd often go by and stop in, and she was always in good spirits and glad to see me. Like my dad, she had a playful mind, and would catch things being said and see humor where others might not. Throughout her life, she continued the Romberger tradition of being a great teaser, but she was also the one who always remembered family events, and never missed my birthday or anniversary.
It was her family (of the three Romberger kids) that was the only one to continue the other Romberger tradition of playing tennis. Like her dad and her aunt, she was quite good and had a healthy competative streak.
She appreciated beauty and good living, and delighted in good weather. I can remember sitting with her in an open courtyard at the nursing home, and her glorying in the beautiful day it was. She and her husband liked good food, and I remember her making a very special exotic curry dip to serve the evening I introduced my husband to be to the family.
She was a great hostess. Our Romberger family parties tended to rotate through the homes of my dad and his two sisters, and I always looked forward to going to her place. It was clean yet lived in. The food was always excellent, and you got really lucky if you were there when she and her husband Frank served up their hot crab dip. They had a good sized yard and patio with an awning, and a swinging sofa we kids would always jockey for because it was fun to rock on. The recreational basement was huge, boasting a ping pong table and bumper pool table, and it was the scene of a lot of childhood birthday parties too.
Aunt Janet always made me think of Judy Garland. She was thin, pretty, vulnerable and had great wet soulful brown eyes.
At her service at the church, a lot of things were said about her warmth, wit, and skills as a mom, wife and grandma, but what her daughter Kathy wrote about her life in her parents' home really stays with me: "I wouldn't have changed a thing."
_____________________________________
Janet R. Bittner, 82, of Allentown, died October 31, 2011, in the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Twp. She was the wife of the late Frank D. Bittner. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Born in Allentown, she was the daughter of the late Gilbert A. and Fay S. (Meckley) Romberger. Janet was a 1951 graduate of Cedar Crest College, Allentown. She was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown. She was a past active volunteer with the Young Republicans of Lehigh County, a past volunteer for the Junior Aide Society at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a former member of the Allentown Garden Club, a past member of the stewardship committee at the church, and a past volunteer at the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank. Survivors: Daughters; Tracy, wife of Jeffrey, of Orefield, and Katherine, wife of Dale, of Barto; four grandchildren.
Services: Memorial Service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown.
Contributions: May be made in her memory to the Church, 18102. Arrangements by the J. S. Burkholder Funeral Home, Allentown.
My Aunt Janet was the last of the three Romberger kids to leave us. She passed of complications from pneumonia. In her most advanced years she became a lot like my father. Time can steal a lot, but her sparkling cheer was undiminished.
In her last year, she lived in a nursing home not far from where I live. I'd often go by and stop in, and she was always in good spirits and glad to see me. Like my dad, she had a playful mind, and would catch things being said and see humor where others might not. Throughout her life, she continued the Romberger tradition of being a great teaser, but she was also the one who always remembered family events, and never missed my birthday or anniversary.
It was her family (of the three Romberger kids) that was the only one to continue the other Romberger tradition of playing tennis. Like her dad and her aunt, she was quite good and had a healthy competative streak.
She appreciated beauty and good living, and delighted in good weather. I can remember sitting with her in an open courtyard at the nursing home, and her glorying in the beautiful day it was. She and her husband liked good food, and I remember her making a very special exotic curry dip to serve the evening I introduced my husband to be to the family.
She was a great hostess. Our Romberger family parties tended to rotate through the homes of my dad and his two sisters, and I always looked forward to going to her place. It was clean yet lived in. The food was always excellent, and you got really lucky if you were there when she and her husband Frank served up their hot crab dip. They had a good sized yard and patio with an awning, and a swinging sofa we kids would always jockey for because it was fun to rock on. The recreational basement was huge, boasting a ping pong table and bumper pool table, and it was the scene of a lot of childhood birthday parties too.
Aunt Janet always made me think of Judy Garland. She was thin, pretty, vulnerable and had great wet soulful brown eyes.
At her service at the church, a lot of things were said about her warmth, wit, and skills as a mom, wife and grandma, but what her daughter Kathy wrote about her life in her parents' home really stays with me: "I wouldn't have changed a thing."
_____________________________________
Janet R. Bittner, 82, of Allentown, died October 31, 2011, in the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Twp. She was the wife of the late Frank D. Bittner. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Born in Allentown, she was the daughter of the late Gilbert A. and Fay S. (Meckley) Romberger. Janet was a 1951 graduate of Cedar Crest College, Allentown. She was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown. She was a past active volunteer with the Young Republicans of Lehigh County, a past volunteer for the Junior Aide Society at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a former member of the Allentown Garden Club, a past member of the stewardship committee at the church, and a past volunteer at the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank. Survivors: Daughters; Tracy, wife of Jeffrey, of Orefield, and Katherine, wife of Dale, of Barto; four grandchildren.
Services: Memorial Service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown.
Contributions: May be made in her memory to the Church, 18102. Arrangements by the J. S. Burkholder Funeral Home, Allentown.
In her last year, she lived in a nursing home not far from where I live. I'd often go by and stop in, and she was always in good spirits and glad to see me. Like my dad, she had a playful mind, and would catch things being said and see humor where others might not. Throughout her life, she continued the Romberger tradition of being a great teaser, but she was also the one who always remembered family events, and never missed my birthday or anniversary.
It was her family (of the three Romberger kids) that was the only one to continue the other Romberger tradition of playing tennis. Like her dad and her aunt, she was quite good and had a healthy competative streak.
She appreciated beauty and good living, and delighted in good weather. I can remember sitting with her in an open courtyard at the nursing home, and her glorying in the beautiful day it was. She and her husband liked good food, and I remember her making a very special exotic curry dip to serve the evening I introduced my husband to be to the family.
She was a great hostess. Our Romberger family parties tended to rotate through the homes of my dad and his two sisters, and I always looked forward to going to her place. It was clean yet lived in. The food was always excellent, and you got really lucky if you were there when she and her husband Frank served up their hot crab dip. They had a good sized yard and patio with an awning, and a swinging sofa we kids would always jockey for because it was fun to rock on. The recreational basement was huge, boasting a ping pong table and bumper pool table, and it was the scene of a lot of childhood birthday parties too.
Aunt Janet always made me think of Judy Garland. She was thin, pretty, vulnerable and had great wet soulful brown eyes.
At her service at the church, a lot of things were said about her warmth, wit, and skills as a mom, wife and grandma, but what her daughter Kathy wrote about her life in her parents' home really stays with me: "I wouldn't have changed a thing."
_____________________________________
Janet R. Bittner, 82, of Allentown, died October 31, 2011, in the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Twp. She was the wife of the late Frank D. Bittner. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Born in Allentown, she was the daughter of the late Gilbert A. and Fay S. (Meckley) Romberger. Janet was a 1951 graduate of Cedar Crest College, Allentown. She was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown. She was a past active volunteer with the Young Republicans of Lehigh County, a past volunteer for the Junior Aide Society at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a former member of the Allentown Garden Club, a past member of the stewardship committee at the church, and a past volunteer at the Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank. Survivors: Daughters; Tracy, wife of Jeffrey, of Orefield, and Katherine, wife of Dale, of Barto; four grandchildren.
Services: Memorial Service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown.
Contributions: May be made in her memory to the Church, 18102. Arrangements by the J. S. Burkholder Funeral Home, Allentown.
