Rita G. Pufahl Bauer McCann

Rita G. Pufahl Bauer McCann was born June 30, 1935 in Milwaukee, WI to German immigrants Paul and Gertrude Pufahl and entered eternal life on October 21, 2024. She was predeceased by her parents and older brother Werner.

Born into a musical family, Rita played multiple instruments including piano, French horn, and accordion - some of them self-taught - and performed professionally as a teen and young adult. A graduate of St. Florian’s, West Milwaukee HS, and Alverno College, Rita worked for 28 years in the Milwaukee Public School system as an elementary school teacher. She made use of her musical skills at work by directing school plays and after work by performing in local theatrical productions.

As a young teacher, Rita’s hobbies included skiing, but even more important to her was performing. She either sang, danced, acted on stage, or worked behind the scenes at local theaters and clubs. Performing music for an audience remained a central focus at all times in her life. Rita’s creativity was boundless and her efforts left a lasting impression on her students.

In 1962 Rita married Benno A. Bauer in Milwaukee, had two children, Cricket and Benno M., and continued to teach. Whether at St. Sebastian’s or St. Jude’s, church was at the center of her community, not only for her spiritual life but as her creative outlet. At St. Seb’s Rita would volunteer for any decorating committee, and after moving to Wauwatosa she served as the musical director for many productions of the St. Jude/Glenview Players.

After Benno A.’s passing, she discovered that an old flame from her college days had also recently become widowed. Rita retired from teaching, moved to North Carolina, and married Bernard “Bern” P. McCann in 1993. Immediately she became step-mom to three adult children and, subsequently, step-grandmother of six. The years they spent together were rich with travel, family activities, and church involvement.

After Bern’s death in 1998, Rita remained very involved in the lives of her step-grandchildren, delighting family and friends with elaborate birthday party themes and decor. She was instrumental in encouraging the children to develop their musical talents. Performing continued to be at the center of Rita’s life and she visited local nursing homes and historic sites near Hickory, NC with her stepson, Patrick, where they performed for enthusiastic audiences, Rita on accordion and Pat on keyboard.

Rita moved back to Wisconsin to spend time with son Ben’s growing family and continued to perform for charitable groups, both on piano and accordion. Rita’s specialties were old standards, traditional German, Polish and Slovak tunes, and any song that could be made into a humorous version. She loved to entertain, but increasingly as she got older, she truly loved to make people laugh. Any gathering was an opportunity to tell jokes or stories that were slightly off— a musical instrument wasn’t always necessary for her to be entertaining. Over the years, Rita and her accordion became almost a thing of legend, and many parties weren’t considered successful until the accordion came out of the case.

She is survived by her children, Cricket (Tim Messman), Benno M. (Stephanie), Maureen Stone, Kellie Light (Martin), Patrick McCann, grandchildren Ian, Zachary, Dylan, Samuel, Joshua, Mary Grace, Anna, Mary Anna, Katie, and Nikki, and will be dearly missed by all.

A funeral Mass was celebrated on November 11th in Hartland, Wisconsin. There will be a Memorial Mass on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 11:00 AM at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 720 W. 13th Street, Newton, NC followed by a graveside service at Catawba Memorial Park in Hickory.

In remembrance of Rita’s musical legacy, the family requests that any memorial donations be made to the Hickory Choral Society, 243 3rd Ave NE # 2N, Hickory, NC 28601 (https://hickorychoralsociety.org/)