Margaret Rossi Bittner, 86, formerly of Germansville, died Feb. 8, 2024, in Allentown, after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease.

The wife of Kenneth F. Bittner, now of Allentown, together they managed a successful farm in the Germansville area until the early 2000s.

In November 2023, they celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary.

Born in 1938 in Dunmore, she was the daughter of the late Rose (Cavagnaro) and Frank A. Rossi.

A 1955 graduate of Dunmore High School, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Mansfield University and a Master’s degree from Penn State University in 1964.

She was a home economics teacher at the then Slatington High School, now Northern Lehigh, in the 1960s.

Later, she helped her husband run their farm, doing everything from driving hay wagons to picking potatoes to bringing him his dinner when he worked in the fields late into the night.

Later, she was a substitute teacher at Northwestern Lehigh High School.

She worked a number of other jobs, including demonstrating how to use microwave ovens when they first came on the market.

When she was young, she was an avid reader, sewer, baker and crafter.

During her later years she enjoyed going on cruises, traveling and going out for breakfast with friends.

She enjoyed music and was very interested in genealogy, two passions she passed along to her daughter.

With her husband, she also enjoyed driving her grandchildren to various attractions around the greater Lehigh Valley.

Her survivors include a daughter, Gina Bittner, and son-in-law, Evan Johnstone, of Philadelphia; grandchildren Nathaniel and Gabriella; nephew Philip Rossi (Throop) and his wife, Cindy; and nieces, nephews and great-nephews and nieces.

She was predeceased by a brother, August Rossi; nephew Frank Rossi; and many cousins with whom she had maintained strong ties.

Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. Feb. 24 in the Immaculate Conception Church, 801 Taylor Ave., by the Rev. Jeffrey Tudgay.

Friends may call at the church from 9 a.m. until the time of the Mass.

She was a lifelong Catholic and burial will be at Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton.

To share a fond memory or to express condolences, visit vanstonandjames.com.

In lieu of flowers the family encourages memorial contributions be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation at parkinson.org.

Arrangements were made by Vanston and James Funeral Home, Scranton.