Leola May Wittenberger

Leola M. Wittenberger of Cozad passed away Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Meadowlark Pointe Assisted Living at the age of 89. Leola was born September 23, 1932 at Belvidere, Nebraska to Perl Charles and Elsie Lottie (Polage) Arnold. She graduated from Belvidere High School. She met Gerald "Jerry" Wittenberger on Good Friday outside of the Congregational Church in Belvidere and were married there on March 22, 1953. Their union was blessed with two children, Kimberly and Benjamin. Leola was baptised into the Belvidere Congregational Church on April 1, 1932. Her faith and involvement in the church was always important. She was a devoted Christian, especially through music. Family was the most important to her. She and Jerry adopted both Kim and Ben to have the family they so wanted. Leola was a loving, caring mom to her kids and the best grandma ever to Austin and Whitney. Leola and Jerry loved to travel, when he worked for United Airlines in Omaha, they would fly standby to cities to take in shows and see the sights! That love to travel carried through when raising a family. They took vacations every year to see different parts of the country and took in all that that area had to offer. Later they took to traveling to McCook and around the area to follow their grand kids activities. After Jerry passed, Leola would load up with Kim and Randy and she would continue to follow those grandkids! Leola was an avid sports fan, and it didn't matter so much what the sport was. She could golf, play tennis and hunt quail and pheasant. Leola was on a state championship volleyball team in high school. She followed the Huskers, the Haymakers, the McCook Bison and the Omaha Mavericks and could tell you who was leading what PGA golf tournament and who just had the best shot. She was probably the most competitive card player around. She loved to play bridge in Cozad and was active in several different groups, and was always the first up to the table when the family brought out the deck of cards. Although her illness took her earthly life from us quickly, she is now in heaven with her true love, Jerry. Leola was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Jerry; son, Benjamin Wittenberger; sister, Leota Baden and her husband Ron. She is survived by her daughter Kimberly (Randy) Korgan of McCook; grandchildren, Austin Korgan (Jill) of ME, Whitney (Kyle) Hundsdorfer of MO; sister, Leora (Robert) Jones of IA; nieces and nephews, Roger (Cindy) Bunting of IL, Gerald (Linda) Bunting of AZ, Richard Michels of MN, Kris (Bob) Jenkins of MO, Lori and (Alan) Callow of MO, John (Beth) Letzig of MO, Susan (Mike) Hanson of NC, Debra (Chris) Howell of TX, Janet (Rolland) Richardson of IA, Randy (Mary Lou) Jones of KS, Lori Jones of CA; and many great nieces, nephews and extended family.

Memorials are suggested to Nebraska Childrens Home. Services will be held Monday, May 23, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at Cozad United Methodist Church with Pastor Jeff Kelley officiating. Burial will follow at Cozad Cemetery. Visitation with family present will be Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Berryman Funeral Home.