Obituary of Katherine Winkler

Our mother, Katherine Winkler looked forward to running into the arms and meeting Jesus and on September 8, 2023, He welcomed her with open arms.

Mom is survived by four sons and their families.  Fred and his wife Gladys (Nicole & Tim Plett, Charissa & Troy Martin), Bob and his wife Kathy (Chris & Bri Winkler, Matt & Rachel Winkler, Mike & Lolita Winkler), Wes and his wife Coralie (Emily & Andrew Sapozhnykov, Abigail & Conner Stoesz), Ron (Cassandra & Wyatt Sterzer, Sabrina & Ryan Dueck, Cai, Nikita, Aiden) and sixteen great-grandchildren with another on the way. Mom is also survived by two brothers, Bill Funk, David (Marlene) Funk, and two sisters, Agatha Unrau & Susie (Gary) Cullum.  She is also survived by five sisters-in-law, Anne, Edith, Helene, Judy & Jessie.

She was predeceased by her husband Otto, eight brothers, two sisters-in-law, one brother in-law.

Katherine was born on December 19, 1938, in the R.M. of De Salaberry.  She was the eighth of 13 children.  She grew up on a farm in the Barkfield area. This is where her passion for gardening began.  She had a tremendous green thumb.  She had a gift of making any seed grow and flourish.  Her gardens always looked like a picture from a magazine.

Mom loved Jesus and asked Him to be her Lord and Savior in her teens and later, on August 8, 1959, she was baptized on her confession of faith at the Barkfield EMB Church.

When mom was in her later teens, she went to work at Johnny’s Grill in Steinbach. That is where she met and fell in love with our dad. After a short courtship, dad convinced her to marry him and on March 16, 1957, they began a lifelong commitment to each other that lasted until dad’s passing in 2020.

Mom and dad lived in many places in Winnipeg the first few years. Dad was busy with carpentry and mom was busy with two small boys. In 1964 dad's work led them to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they lived until 1972.  They felt a strong pull to come back to the Steinbach area to be closer to extended family but to also give their sons a better Christian influence. In all the places they lived, mom always made it a home. Mom and dad bought a dairy farm and were a great team together working side by side. 

Mom was a great cook… she baked cookies – the size that boys would enjoy…not the little teacup sized cookies, she baked the best buns, made awesome holubshi, apple pies, perogies, to just name a few. 

Mom loved learning.  She bought a typewriter and learned how to type, she saw her boys take their hunter safety course, so she took it too and passed!  They were so proud of her, even if she couldn’t bring herself to shoot anything.  She got her realtors license and sold for Vogt realty, and Riverbend realty.

She loved knitting, crocheting, caring for others and when meeting people, she loved talking to them about Jesus.

After selling the farm, mom and dad did a bit of travelling and went on some missions’ trips that they really enjoyed participating in.

Mom was diagnosed with a difficult disease some years ago.  As her body became less mobile, when she lost her ability to speak, it never kept her from giving you a smile, or a twinkle in her eyes…they spoke volumes!! In all of it, she never complained.  Her last home was at Bethesda Place.  As a family, we would like to thank the staff at Bethesda Place for caring so well for our mother.  You were family to her as well. It was so evident in the last week how you loved her too.  Thank you so much.

We also are grateful for all the visits, prayers, and encouragement you showed our mother.

The Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday, September 15, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Samaritan's Purse Canada, 20 Hopewell Way NE, Calgary, Alberta, T3J 5H5.