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Theodore J. Bittner Sr.
Ted Bittner
Posted
Theodore “Ted” James Bittner Sr., 88, of Clermont, Fla. passed away on Jan. 30, 2018 at Mike Conley Hospice House of heart failure.
“Theodore the Magnificent,” as he was affectionately known, was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1929. He lived most of his younger years in Pennsylvania and Ohio until his family moved to upstate New York, where he met and married Margaret “Maggie” MacLean in 1951.
Ted could tell a story like none other, often recounting his years as a nurse anesthetist; a career he started in New York, which led him to Kansas City and later to Garden City, Kan. Ted and Maggie retired in Fountain Hills in 1987, where he lived until Maggie passed and his health required living closer to family in May 2017.
Ted was an Army 11th Airborne veteran serving in the South Pacific and later in Korea. In the early years of his career he participated in research which would later lead to what is now called CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).
Ted is preceded in death by the love of his life, his wife of 65 years, Margaret Bittner; his mother Estelle Dolce and stepfather, Louis Dolce; and his special uncle, Cy Bittner who taught him all that was important in life.
Ted is survived by his three children, Kathleen Grange of Denver, Colo.; Diane Maestas, Clermont, Fla.; and Ted Bittner Jr. of Charlottesville, Va. He is grandfather of six and great grandfather of 17.
Throughout his life Ted enjoyed shooting and re-loading, usually in the company of his life-long friend, Clayton Studley. Ted served for many years as a deputy sheriff for the Finney County Sheriff’s Posse. He enjoyed off-road four-wheeling and hiking in the mountains and desert of Arizona with friends from the Men’s Club of Fountain Hills.
He earned his pilot’s license later in life and often flew his plane to Colorado to hike the mountains. In the short time Ted lived in Florida with his daughter and son-in-law, Gary Maestas, he became active in his church, “Real Life,” and enjoyed his weekly Bible study group with new friends.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later date when friends and family can gather near Ted and Maggie’s beautiful Superstition Mountains near Fountain Hills.
