Trafford man loved family, woodworking

Dwight Witman Jr. had just turned 4 when he spent time with his future wife, Naomi, for one of the first times.

The duo, who lived a block from each other in Trafford, remembered kneeling next to the bathtub playing with sailboats during Witman’s birthday party. Naomi Witman was the only girl invited to the party, their daughter Phyllis Neral said.

Mr. Dwight N. “Bud” Witman Jr., 100, of Trafford, died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at Redstone Highlands in North Huntingdon. Born in Trafford on Feb. 25, 1920, he was the son of Dwight Newcomb Witman Sr. and Margaret (Dull) Witman.

While the 4-year-olds seemingly struck a bond at the party, they did not start officially dating until after high school. They were married in February 1942.

Three months later, Dwight Witman was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving four years during World War II with the 98th Chemical Service Company.

During that time, Dwight and Naomi wrote each other letters and spent a short period together when he was stationed in Alabama.

“When she got a letter, she knew he was still alive,” Neral said, noting that the letters were heavily redacted and adding that her dad spent 22 months in the South Pacific.

Once he returned from the war, the couple spent 75 years together. Naomi Witman died in 2017.

“He just absolutely doted on her,” Neral said. “It was just a good, solid marriage.”

After Mr. Witman returned from the war, he worked as a wood pattern maker for Westinghouse in Trafford, a career that led to a lifelong passion in woodworking. According to his daughter, Mr. Witman enjoyed building mantel clocks and furniture. He once built a 6-foot grandfather clock.

“He and my mother, she liked to paint, and he made a little carousel one time and he carved the horses out of wood and she painted them,” Neral said. “He carved nativities out of balsa wood, he made my sister furniture, he made me bookshelves.”

After his career at Westinghouse, Mr. Witman worked as a model maker for Rockwell Manufacturing and as an inspector for Scientific Tool, from which he retired at the age of 85.

When he was not working with his hands, Mr. Witman enjoyed singing and taking pictures.

He was heavily involved in the church, attending parishes in Trafford, Level Green and Irwin, holding positions of ordained elder and clerk of sessions.

“He just seemed to have a way of letting the bad stuff go,” Neral said. “When you’ve lived through theDepression and you’ve lived through four years of a war, you kind of see some of the other stuff wasn’t important.”

He is survived by another daughter, Janet Mitchell, several grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the John M. Dobrinick Funeral Home, 702 Seventh St, Trafford. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in First Presbyterian Church of Irwin, 617 Main St., Irwin. Interment will follow in St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg.

Donations can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Irwin, 617 Main St., or to Redstone Highlands Benevolent Care Fund, 126 Matthews St., Suite 2800, Greensburg.