Wilbert Winter
Wilbert Otto (Bill) Winter, 91, passed
away quietly on Jan. 18, 2011, in Longview, Wash., with family at
his side.
Bill was born Dec. 28, 1919, on a small
farm south of Parkston, S.D., to Bertha Uttecht Winter and
Nathanial Winter. He was one of seven children raised in the
township of Kulm, named after the Russian village from which his
and many of the neighboring families emigrated.
From an early age, he would spend spare
time (rarely found on a farm during the Depression years) working
on anything mechanical. In 1938, he and his older brother Arnold
rebuilt an old motorcycle and the two men, at 6-foot 4-inches and
6-foot 6 inches, rode the cycle from South Dakota to Los Angeles,
Calif., to find work and learn to fly. He soon had the training to
be hired by Douglas Aircraft, and in less than two years earned his
pilot’s license and owned his own plane.
During the war years, Bill was a wing
foreman for Douglas Aircraft and was recognized by the company for
innovations in the building of the C-47. He was the foreman in
charge of the wings on the first Air Force One designed and built,
but never used, for President Franklin Roosevelt.
While working at Douglas Aircraft, Bill
met Jean Elaine Foster, and they were married on Feb. 21, 1943, in
Santa Monica, Calif. Their three daughters, Marvilla, Christle and
Deneanne, were born there.
Bill moved his family to Whitefish in
1949, where Jean’s family was located, and he went to work for
Harlow Chevrolet. A certified GM mechanic, Bill was sought after
for his expertise on cars.
He went to work for the Great Northern
Railroad in 1953. Along with Art and Evelyn LaBrie, Ted and Connie
Lund, and Lil and Dale Howke, he and Jean helped to found the
Whitefish Winter Carnival Penguins. It was Bill who came up with
the design for the moveable “bills” that allowed the Penguins to
talk.
Following a divorce, Bill met Mollie
Morken, and they were married in 1965. He retired from the railroad
in 1979, and he and Mollie eventually moved from Whitefish to
Village Greens, in Evergreen. Bill and Mollie enjoyed a marriage of
40 years until her death in 2006.
Bill became a stepfather to Mollie’s
children, Earvin Morken, Gary Morken and Marilyn Morken, and
Mollie’s family became a big part of his life.
Bill could be quite opinionated on many
topics, and he enjoyed relating stories of his youth to family and
friends. He was a perfectionist and a very inventive and clever
man. Up until the time Bill moved from his home in 2010, he would
most likely be found in his garage inventing, tinkering and
redesigning almost everything.
He was very gifted in math and
mechanics and, with only an eighth-grade education, could help
solve his daughters’ math problems — even calculus. His
understanding of automobiles led him to be in demand for rebuilding
engines for friends. His carpenter talents were visible in the
woodwork in the home that he built in Whitefish.
He loved Christmas and went out of his
way to think up clever and thoughtful gifts. He always made sure
that the family had the perfect tree, which he selected during the
summer and cut during a family outing before Christmas. He enjoyed
the younger grandchildren and great grandchildren. The many years
after his retirement when he and Mollie could travel in their
fifth-wheel were some of the favorite times of his life.
Bill was preceded in death by his
parents Bertha and Nathanial Winter; brothers Arnold Winter,
Raymond Winter and an infant brother; sisters Adele Schultz and
Olivia Isabel; wife Mollie Winter; son-in-law Mike Conn, and
grandchildren Wendy Mae Conn, Maxwell Wischafski and Kevin
Morken.
Bill leaves behind a rich legacy and is
survived by his sister Hilda Winter, of Van Nuys, Calif.; daughters
Marvilla Davis and husband Charles, of Fairbanks, Alaska; Christle
England and husband Glenn, of Longview, Wash., and Deneanne Winter,
of Portland, Ore.; stepchildren Earvin Morken and wife Beverly, of
Kalispell, Gary Morken and wife Karen, of Sidney, and Marilyn
Morken, of Great Falls; 10 grandchildren; 18 great grandchildren;
and one great great grandson.
Bill was interred next to his wife
Mollie at Glacier Memorial Gardens in Kalispell.
A gathering for friends and family of
Bill will take place at the Village Greens Community Center in
Evergreen on Saturday, May 21, 2011, beginning at 1 p.m.
The family requests that any donations
be made to Hospice of Kalispell or Cowlitz County Home Health and
Hospice, in Washington.