Joan Wittenberg (photo credit: Puppet Patter)

Joan’s passing came to our attention quite unexpectedly.

As a result, we reached out to her daughter Lisa and hoped she would be agreeable to letting us share a bit of Joan’s life in our Newsletter.

Joan, like Marc, was a member of the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild. That hits close to home.

Typically the Newsletter featuring, ARTIST SPOTLIGHT, covers a guest’s interview in a question/answer format. However, we have had occasion to present folks from a historical aspect.

The following are comments provided by Joan’s daughter, Lisa, Dave Herzog and excerpts from the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild newsletter - PUPPET PATTER.

Joan was a member of The Chicago Puppetry Guild. In April of 2019, at what she thought was just a party to celebrate her 90th birthday, she was presented with the Hans J. Schmidt Founders Award as it's first recipient. An article was featured in the June 2019 issue of the Puppet Patter.

(An excerpt from a 2019 Puppet Patter award acknowledgement)

When it was learned that Joan was about to celebrate her 90th birthday we decided on having a party in her honor. Considering that Joan was a long time loyal member of the guild, our committee thought it only befitting to honor her with an award. Since our past president (and now Vice-President Fred Berchtold) had established an annual “Presidents Award” for outstanding service to the guild, it did not seem befitting for her years of loyalty, friendship and respect earned throughout her tenure of membership. A “Lifetime Achievement Award” was discussed but that title might not have applied to Joan’s credentials. It was discussed among the committee to create a “Guild Founders Award” more appropriate. This would serve two purposes. Bringing to mind and recognizing the Guild’s original founders, George Cole, Jay Marshall and the lead founder. We chose the first CPG President whose name appears on the award as, The “Hans J. Schmidt Founders Award”. To make it special, Joan Wittenberg would be the first recipient! Take note that this award does not interfere or supersede the current Presidents Award. It is another means of recognizing service to the Guild and our common art form. Our CPG web master and Patter Publisher, Jeff Biske created the format for the award (pictured here). The award was presented on Sunday, March 24th.2019 at the Covenant Village Retirement Home in Northbrook, Illinois where Joan is a current resident. Since we wanted the presentation of the award to be a surprise we allowed Joan to think that this would be an early celebration of her birthday, which is April 17th.

For many years through the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild, Joan loved coming to Guild meetings and was always welcome for her warm friendly smile, and her enthusiasm for puppetry and storytelling. Often when we had a show and tell type meeting Joan would have a sweet puppet skit or story.

Joan enjoyed the meetings and especially our annual picnic. Joan was an especially warm and friendly person, and even later in life had a lively twinkle in her eye, a love of puppetry, and most especially a love of children. Her gentle warm and loving presence will be missed. - Dave Herzog

(Shared with us by Joan’s daughter Lisa)

Joan Wittenberg was always a performer from a very young age but became involved in puppetry in her 50's. It soon became her passion. She and her mentor, Dorothy Smith, were partners in The Little Top Players. They performed for birthday parties, libraries and community events in Evanston, Wilmette and the Chicago area. Most of the puppets were hand-made by Joan and Dorothy. When Dorothy passed away in 1988 Joan inherited her puppets and she continued on. Her husband, Merle, built her a large puppet stage that could be folded and transported to any event.

Joan worked at the Wilmette Library in the 1980's giving puppet workshops for school age children and doing story times, usually with a puppet. She became known in the Chicagoland puppetry world and loved attending the yearly puppetry conferences. When Joan and Merle moved to Whitewater, Wisconsin she continued performing with her puppets at birthday parties for family, and friends, schools, libraries and community events including the July 4th festivities. She even performed at a school in China while visiting friends there.

Some of Joan's most beloved shows were The Little Rabbit who wanted Red Wings; How the Bear Lost his Tail; A Christmas Carol; Where the Wild Things Are; The Three Little Pigs, and an original script she wrote for Environmental Awareness Month about how the animals cleaned up trash in the forest..

Mom spread so much joy through her puppets and it clearly brought her so much joy which is evident in photos of her performing or simply holding a puppet. She passed away peacefully on January 7th, 2025.

Author’s Acknowledgement - We’d like to thank the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild, notably, Mel Biske, for permission to use details of Joan’s life from the guild’s publication, Puppet Patter. Joan’s daughter Lisa, for initially reaching out and making contact with us. Lisa shared her mom’s life and we felt compelled to share it as well. We felt honored to share Joan’s story beyond the confines of her dear puppetry friends and fellow guild members. Our fan base extends beyond “puppetry industry folk” and overlaps with other performing arts communities as well.

We hope sharing her story, if only in this limited fashion, will help place a face with a name, with a wonderful life.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - Joan Wittenberg (A Special Lady)