Bella Rita Mitzman Davidson Hittner

Bella Rita Mitzman Davidson Hittner, known to her friends as Susie, passed away on June 18, 2021.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on May 8, 1927, to Jack and Edith Mitzman, she was the middle of three children and as the only girl, she was always called Sister by her parents, brother and extended family. She is predeceased by her older brother, Barnett and survived her younger brother, Arthur.
Susie grew up in the Weequahic section of Newark where she attended Maple Avenue School and Weequahic High School from which she proudly graduated in June of 1945.
A talented and accomplished violinist, Susie briefly attended the University or Richmond before transferring to the New England Conservatory of Music and ultimately graduated from New York University with a degree in English in 1948.
While playing violin in the New Jersey Symphony she met her first husband, Milton Davidson, then the principal trumpet player in the orchestra. Their first date, according to Susie, was when he invited her to be in the audience of a radio program, the US Steel Hour, in which he also played in the orchestra. With a wry smile, she would add that her parents accompanied her on this date because they did not trust her to be alone with a musician.
Susie and Milton wed in 1948 and subsequently had five children together who survive her: Lisa Galen, Barry Davidson, Daniel Davidson, Debra Davidson and Elizabeth Munson, all of whom grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. While raising a family, Susie continued to perform as a violinist in several local and community orchestras.
As the family grew, Susie decided to continue her education and attended graduate school at Rutgers University, earning a master’s degree in Library Science in 1964. She worked as a school librarian for the West Orange Public Schools at Washington Street School until her retirement in 1992.
Milton died in 1978 and in 1979 Susie married Marvin Hittner, one of Milton’s closest friends.
For several years, while continuing to live in West Orange, they spent several months of the year in Miami Beach before eventually moving to Florida full time in 2006.
Marvin passed away in 2016. Susie moved back to New Jersey to be closer to her children, residing in Highland Park.
Susie was a serious and conscientious reader, even as her vision declined. At the time of her death, several books including Barak Obama’s “A Promised Land” lay marked and unfinished by the couch where she spent most of her time either reading or watching mostly police shows on TV.
Even as death approached, Susie wanted to watch the national news and her evening game shows, “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” (she consistently guessed the answers to these word puzzles before the contestants). A lifelong lover of all things chocolate, to the end, she was keenly interested in and enjoyed talking about history, politics, world events and the lives and activities of her children and grandchildren. She was thrilled at the birth of her first great grandchild.
In addition to her children, Susie will be sorely missed by their spouses, William Galen, Diane Pincus, Lauren Pletzner and Michael Munson, and her grandchildren, Emily Burton and Maya Galen, Jacob, Michael, Marshall, Cameron and Brianna Davidson, and Matthew and Dylan Munson as well as her only great grandchild, Harlow Burton.