SACKETS HARBOR, NY — Bernita S. “Toots” Huttemann, widow of Herbert Huttemann, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the age of 108 ½.
She was born Dec. 25, 1914, in the town of Alexandria, a daughter to Michael and Lettie Joels Cullen.
On April 18, 1936, she was joined in marriage to the late Herbert Huttemann, a well-known Sackets Harbor native, a union that lasted 62 years.
Toots and Herbie owned a cottage in Adams Cove, Dexter, NY, where they took great pleasure in entertaining family and friends.
Bernita was an employee of Hounsfield Central School and the Calavo Fruit Plant both in Sackets Harbor. She enjoyed an endless friendship with the Pinochle girls. She was a member of the Sweet Adeline’s Singing group and was a communicant of St. Andrews Catholic Church, as well as. A member of the church’s Altar and Rosary Society.
She is survived by her daughter and a son-in-law, Joan and Norman Townsend, a son-in-law Lee Giddings and many loving nieces and nephews.
She had a love for her grandchildren Gregg (Eileen), Jan Townsend, Brian (Kari), Joseph (Anne) and Gretchen Townsend, that was never ending. She passed this love on to eight great grandchildren and a fifth-generation great great grandson, whom she affectionately called “Peaches.”
Bernita was predeceased by her parents, five siblings, her husband Herbert, a daughter Gail Giddings, and infant grandson, and a special nephew Lyndon “Butch” Huttemann.
Her family will be forever grateful to her many caregivers, who never faltered in their loving care and devotion. She would say, “I lived a great life.”
The funeral Mass will be said 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Sackets Harbor, with Rev. Donald Robinson and Rev. Douglas Comstock concelebrating. Burial will follow in the Lakeside Cemetery, Sackets Harbor. The family will receive friends beginning at 9:30am prior to the mass at the church.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Herbert Huttemann Scholarship Fund care of Sackets Harbor Central School or a charity of ones choosing.
Arrangements are with the Reed & Benoit Funeral Home, Watertown.
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