ELLIS — Eileen B. Wittman, 86, died Feb. 25 at the Wheatland Nursing Center in Russell. Born June 27, 1927, in Ellis, she was the daughter of George and Bernice (Coleman) Matteson. She attended school in Ellis, graduating from Ellis High School in 1945.  She also attended Colorado Women’s College in Denver for one year. On Nov. 7, 1948, she married Lawrence Wittman. He died on March 26, 2009. A resident Great Bend from 1973 to 1977, residing in Ellis most of her life, she was employed in the Ellis drugstores, as a dental assistant for Dr. Davis, as librarian for the Ellis Public Library, and children’s librarian in the Great Bend Public Library. She also gave voice lessons and taught a musical kindergarten.
Mrs. Wittman was the choir director for the Ellis United Methodist Church and the Trinity United Methodist Church in Great Bend.
Survivors include three daughters, Pat Pickett of Wichita, Carolyn Gnad of Russell, and Paulette Wittman of Great Bend; a sister, Janet Brewer of Huber Heights, Ohio; nine grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a brother, Glynn Matteson.
Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday,  March 1, at the Ellis United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at  Mount Hope cemetery in Ellis. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Keithley Funeral Chapel in Ellis, and from 9 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church. Memorials are suggested to the Ellis Public Library or the Ellis United Methodist Church.

Funeral arrangements provided by
Keithley Funeral Chapel
400 E 17th St.
Ellis, KS 67637
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Feb. 28, 2014