Bruno Voltaire Bitker was born in Milwaukee on February 5, 1898. His parents were
Jacob L. Bitker and Sara Rubin and he had a younger brother, Pierce. His father
opened two stores in Milwaukee; the Bitker Department Store and the Bitker-Gerner
Store. During World War I, while a student in college, he enlisted in the Army and
served as a Lieutenant in the Infantry. He received his law degree from Cornell
University in 1921, and he practiced law in Milwaukee up until his death on April
12, 1984. He was very active in civic affairs, serving on many city, state and
federal boards and commissions. Some of those include the Milwaukee Sewerage
Commission 1931-1953, the Governor’s Commission on Human Rights 1947-1956, and the
Mayors Committee on Human Relations 1948-1952. In 1948 he was appointed, by
Milwaukee Mayor Frank Zeidler, special counsel for the City of Milwaukee on a John
Doe investigation into gambling in Milwaukee County. He was district director of the
Office of Price Administration (OPA) from 1942-1968, chairman of the Governor’s
Commission on the United Nations 1959-1968, chairman of the Wisconsin Advisory
Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 1960-1971, and chairman of the
Wisconsin Bicentennial Commission. He received many awards and citations for his
activities.
Bitker married Elizabeth Worden in 1936 and they were divorced in 1951. They had no
children together but Bitker adopted Elizabeth’s son from a previous marriage,
Robert. Bitker married Marjorie Marks in 1957; she had three children from a
previous marriage. They remained married until his death.
