 As a young girl she sang in church choirs and at community events.Music professor C. J. Kresser was among the first to realize Wittkowski's potential when he heard her sing at a church function and would serve as her mentor for a number of years.Later Mrs. Edward Joy, the wife of a local businessman, arranged to have Wittkowski attend music classes at the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University and then study under the soprano Emma Cecilia Thursby in New York City.