Rolf Carl Bitsch Obituary (1948

On a winter's night on January 13, 1948 a young pregnant woman was on a train hoping against hope that she would arrive at the hospital in Zurich, Switzerland in time to deliver her baby there instead of on the train. She did arrive and that is how Rolf Carl Bitsch came into the world. He has been a truly unique individual since that day. He was born to Paul Ernst Bitsch and Anna Bisello Bitsch, the second of six children. Rolf was an adventurous spirit even as a child. His family lived in the city, but he spent many summers up in the Swiss mountains working with friends. As far as school went, he always told his children that he walked uphill both ways to get there. When we got to go to Switzerland in 1994, we found out that this was not actually true. When he was 8 years old, he lived next door to an LDS family who had children his age. School was held 6 days a week with Wednesday and Saturday afternoons off. Rolf wanted to play with his friends, but they told him they were going to Primary and he was welcome to come, too. So he started going to Primary, and then to church with them on Sundays. When he was 12 years old, the father of a family who had recently returned from living in the US for a while realized that Rolf had never been baptized. He asked if Rolf wanted to get baptized and he said "yes". His parents were both raised in an orphanage and the citizens of Switzerland enjoy religious freedom so they said they were okay with whatever he wanted to do. He was baptized and so began, officially, a long association with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He always had a fascination with America and was particularly anxious to see what the Church was like here. He served a mission for the LDS Church to Italy in 1970-1972. He went directly from his home in Winterthur, Switzerland to his mission. He was the only member of the Church in his family and he went to his parent's bedroom door to tell them "good-bye" the day he boarded the train to go to Italy. He did not have the advantage of a Missionary Language Training Center and arrived in Italy knowing only Swiss German, High German and French. His president asked him if he wanted him to talked to him in English or Italian, and he somehow managed to communicate to him that it didn't matter because he didn't understand either one. He was able to learn both English and Italian on his mission, but it was not until he came to the United States that he finally learned why all the Elders would snicker every time he introduced himself as "Anziano Bitsch". Following his mission, his mission president contacted him with the offer of a scholarship to Ricks College. Rolf had no idea where Ricks College was, but if it would get him to America to fulfill that long-held dream to see what it was like, he would accept it. He had a good friend who had married a girl from Delta, Utah and she said it was a great place, so in January of 1973 off he went. He was able to convince the immigration lady that he had enough money to support himself for the first year and then he would work. It was legal for him to work on campus as long as he didn't take a job that an America student wanted. So he was a janitor on the night shift to support himself through school, earning an Associate Degree in General Studies in 1975. That summer, he lived with Bro. and Sis. Staker in Idaho Falls that he had met as they were serving a mission in Italy. Then he was headed to BYU Provo in the fall. He was 27 years old at the time and they were kind of bugging him about being "a menace to society" as he was not married yet (to coin a phrase from Brigham Young). In March of that year he had met Pamela Barrus, a young operating room nurse who lived in Salt Lake City, when she went to see her sister on their way back home from a Ricks College dance tour to the Southwestern United States. Rolf was on the International and Folk Dance teams with her. Dancing was one of the loves of his life at this time. He meet Pam the second time when she went to watch a competition at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake. He must have said something to the Stakers about her as they suggested to him that she might be a good marriage partner. He got her address from her sister and started writing to her. On June 13th, 1975 they had their first date as she drove up to Blackfoot for her cousin's wedding reception. They spent the day together on Saturday and went to church together in her Aunt and Uncle's ward on Sunday. The next week there was a big Swiss celebration in Salt Lake and Rolf was able to ride down there with some friends. He and Pam went to the activities together on Friday and Saturday and church together on Sunday. Sunday afternoon he was at her apartment and he asked her to marry him. After a quick trip upstairs to consult with the Lord about this important decision, she said "yes". They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 13, 1975, just two months after their first date. Pam's mom was so impressed with Rolf the first time she met him that she had said "somebody needs to marry that guy". Little did she know that by the time she got back home from her trip to visit Brenda, Rolf would be on the phone asking Pam's Dad for her hand in marriage. After marriage, they lived in Salt Lake where they were blessed by the arrival of Michael Rolf on August 2, 1976. When they were expecting another child two years later, Val Feller of Caldwell, who had served his mission in Switzerland some years earlier offered Rolf a job working for him. It seemed like an opportunity for Pam to be able to stay home with their family so he accepted the job and they moved to Caldwell in 1978. They actually spent that summer running a go-cart track in Twin Falls which was an interesting adventure. After moving to Caldwell and the birth of their daughter, Heather on October 6, 1978, Rolf knew that he could never be happy working for Val Feller, so he quit. There followed a variety of jobs including selling water conditioners, vacuum cleaners, cell phones, substitute teaching and sometimes the "stay at home" Dad. Eventually Rolf secured a job working for K-Mart in the automotive manager program. During the time when Pam was pregnant with their third child, they transferred him to manage the department in Casper, Wyoming. There was a uranium boom going on then and housing was so very expensive. They were not able to get a place to live on his wages so after Heidi arrived on October 29, 1981, Rolf quit that job and came home, arriving, unexpectedly, in time for Thanksgiving with the family. Rolf spent enough time substitute teaching in the Caldwell district to get to know a lot of the kids. He and the parents of his children's friends were always on the lookout for each other. His children knew they couldn't get away with anything they shouldn't be doing because someone would see them and report to their father. He was also the high counselor over seminary which put him in contact with the young people. He has always had a special love for children, especially the teenagers, and the bond has been close over many, many years. He spent probably 25 years as a soccer referee, rising to the level of State Referee. In this capacity he got acquainted with yet more young people and was constantly running into people whose lives he had influenced. He spent pretty much all of his married life working with the Boy Scouts in one capacity or another. He did this with his usual enthusiasm and integrity. He never did anything halfway. If he said he'd do something, you could count on it getting done. If the Scout uniform was to be worn, the entire correct uniform should be worn, in his opinion. Through the Boy Scout program, he elevated the lives of countless young men. He pushed many to experience and achieve things they thought they couldn't do, but he knew they could. In 2004 Rolf started working for Brown Bus Company as a driver and then, eventually, as the training coordinator. He drove one of the buses which transported students to Thomas Jefferson Charter School. He had found his niche here with these kids and he loved them fiercely. He got to know each of them by name and had high expectations for their behavior on his bus. And it was "his bus". He would not have treated it better if the title was in his name. Those kids knew that he loved them and they loved him back. He kept track of them over the years too, attending their mission farewells, ball games, plays, graduations, etc. After 30 years of living in Caldwell, Rolf and Pam moved to Nampa into the 9th Ward. The 9th Ward has been, truly, like family to them. The Spirit of "being in the place God wants us to be" has been very strong here. Rolf absolutely loved driving the bus to take the Young Men and Young Women on special trips, to the Manti Temple, Lagoon and other places. Another highlight was going on Trek with them to Martin's Cove in 2013. Although he didn't get to drive the bus, he was the "watch dog" of the bus driver and talked about how much fun it would be if he could afford to just buy a bus and use it for taking youth groups to Martin's Cove. Rolf had some things on his "bucket list" and had accomplished many of them. When he was a boy he really wanted to play the trumpet, but his parents couldn't afford lessons. As an adult, he was able to take lessons and it was a great source of joy to sit and practice his trumpet. He never did get really good at it, but was good enough to play Taps at the graveside service for his father in law just a year ago. He owned three motorcyles over his lifetime and enjoyed riding, but after a minor accident in 2014 he gave up the motorcyle. He was able to purchase a Honda Ridgeline pickup which was his pride and joy. He always wanted a "fold up" camper trailer and was able to buy one just this spring after selling the "Scoutmobile" van which had come into his life through meeting a dear friend from scouting years ago. This purchase was truly an act of divine intervention as he paid $750 for a 12 passenger van which was used over the next few years for a variety of excursions with the Boy Scouts, young men and young women of the ward. When they announced the plan to build a temple in Rome, Italy, he started saving money to be able to go to the open house when it's completed. The construction has taken longer than anticipated so that dream hadn't been fulfilled yet. Maybe God needed him to work on that project from the other side as one of his greatest wishes was for his siblings to be able to go inside an LDS temple with him for the open house and feel the Spirit there. Probably the greatest pride of his life was achieving the position of "Papi" in the family. His three grandsons were the joy of his life. He even put their first name initials followed by "Papi" on his license plate. He loved Facetiming with Jack and Zane and showing up to take them to lunch. He always had such great expectations for these three boys and he would want you to know that he is still watching you and rooting for you. He's still expecting you to serve honorable missions and follow in his footsteps in Church service. He was particularly excited about the impending arrival of a granddaughter. We're pretty sure they are spending a little time together on the other side of the veil before she comes here for her mortal sojourn. Some things we will always remember about Rolf are that he wasn't afraid to tell you "the thing what it is" and answering the phone with "whaz up?" He knew things like the "inside of his back pocket" and had an uncanny sense of when we'd been getting into his things. They didn't look terribly organized, but he always knew where things were and if we'd moved something. He and Pam had just celebrated 41 years of marriage and were so happy to be together. They had a practice of kneeling together at their beside for couples prayer every night which brought them great joy and peace. They were looking forward to serving a mission in Switzerland when Mom retired in two years. I guess he decided he couldn't wait that long. We know the covenants they made in the temple when they were married in 1975 will make it possible for them to be together, with their family, for eternity. Rolf had a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was a devoted disciple. We know he's already busy working on the other side of the veil and would not want us to mourn for him too long. He was preceded in death by his father, Paul Ernst Bitsch and brother, Markus Bitsch. He is survived by his wife, Pamela Barrus Bitsch, children Michael (Sarah and Christopher) Bitsch; Heather (Brandon, Jack and Zane) Capener and Heidi (Annie) Bitsch-Matheus. He is also survived by his mother, Anna Bitsch-Bisello, a brother, Manfred (Marlies) Bitsch and three sisters, Uschi (Jurg) Ley, Susy (Bruno) Keller, and Conny (W_le) Ammann, and many nieces and nephews. Service: Saturday August 27, 2016, at 6:00 P.M The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 3904 E. Greenhurst Rd, Nampa Idaho 83686 Visitation: Saturday August 27, 2016 from 5:00 P.M. to 5:45 P.M. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 3904 E. Greenhurst Rd, Nampa Idaho 83686