Obituary for Rosa Wittenberg

Where do I start...my mom, Rosa Teresa Wittenberg, was her own small force of nature. Mom was invincible. She moved forward throughout life with a passion to get to know people, friend or stranger, and a curiosity that kept her interested in EVERYTHING. If you knew one of Rosa’s kids, grandkids, or great grandkids, then you knew Rosa too. She literally inserted herself into each of their circles and did not leave it to chance to know you. She would approach you, say hi and introduce herself. And that, would be the start of a forever friendship with teachers, friends, classmates, teammates, and all the parents and siblings too. This was innate to Rosa, and she naturally did this since when her own kids were born, and it continued through to her great-grandkids. Mom’s love was always her family and she cherished time spent with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were her world. She would always remember a birthday call and birthday card for all her loved ones. She made sure to call each of them regularly and ask how they were and give an update on what she was doing that day.

Mom was a prolific writer. She wrote down thoughts, news items, notes she wanted to pass on because she knew we would be interested, historical things, events, recipes, and more. She had a knack for crossword puzzles, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy. She was sharp. We told her she needed to be a contestant on Jeopardy. She watched sports all the time, was a lover of the arts, travel enthusiast, historian, story teller, food critic, lifelong learner, amongst so many other things. She was truly young at heart. We came to learn Mom was brave and tried to shield things from her family. She was a “tough cookie” and had to deal with a lot these last few months. We now realize that being quiet about things was her way of trying not to burden family with things. We have come to realize she had to deal with much hardship growing up and during WW2. Yet, she carried on throughout her life with courage, perseverance, joy, and optimism. She continuously encouraged us to live our lives to the fullest, pursue our dreams, be happy, and “treat ourselves royally.”

She held different jobs throughout life but her most favorite one was being a grandmother. She was an advocate for all her grandchildren and babysat most of them on a regular basis. This included regular trips to story time at the library or Barnes and Noble then lunch at McDonald’s. Maybe a trip to Linda’s Bakery would be next or Hansen’s IGA for some mashed potatoes and gravy. Mom was born in Cormons, Italy on July 31, 1928, to Ursula (Moser) and Pierluigi Gerevini.

Rosa met our Dad, Robert L. Wittenberg, after WW2 in what was then known as the Free Territory of Trieste (now Italy) at the NCO Club. Bob was stationed there after the war and ran the club. They married in nearby Barcola on October 25, 1952.

Since Dad was in the Army for twenty-two years they lived at Army bases in Germany, Indiana, Colorado, and California. Sandy was born in Colorado, Donna and Steve in Germany, and when Dad left the service and they relocated to his hometown of La Crosse, Rob was born. Mom had many stories of their lives in all these places. Once they were in La Crosse they bought a house on Meadow Lane Place on the south side. Mom always loved that area and she still lived nearby on 32nd street. Over the years she loved to be with her family and go to all the kids’ sporting events. She could be found with friends, and sometimes she liked to sit at Riverside Park and watch whatever was going on. She continued to drive and attend events and morning coffee at McDonald’s up until the fall.

Rosa is survived by her children, Sandra Haack of West Salem, Donna Neumann of La Crosse, Steve Wittenberg of La Crosse, and Rob (Sue) Wittenberg of West Salem; grandchildren, Mike (Heather) Bentzen of La Crescent, Martin (Erin) Neumann of La Crosse, Andrew Haack of Telluride, CO, Alex (Taylor) Bahr of Atlanta, GA, Mariah Wittenberg (fiancé Dan Schmidtknecht) of West Salem, and Kellen Wittenberg of West Salem; great-grandchildren, Zack Bentzen and Owen Bentzen of La Crescent, and Khloe Neumann of La Crosse. Also, her special lifelong friend and “sister” from Cormons, Italy, Elvira Kettler of Louisville, KY.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Wittenberg; father and mother, Pierluigi Gerevini and Ursula Moser; sister, Gina Gerevini; infant son, Allen Wittenberg; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins from Austria.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12 noon on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, 2006 Weston St., La Crosse. Father Brian Konopa will celebrate the Mass. Burial will follow in Catholic Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m., until the time of Mass, Monday, at the church.

Please feel free to leave an expression of sympathy for Rosa’s family on this site.