Rose Marie Winters
Rose Marie Winters, 87, of Waukon died Tuesday, August 4, 2020 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Due to restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, private family services were held at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating, and burial was in the church cemetery. Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon handled arrangements.
Rose Marie Winters was born May 16, 1933 in Waukon, the daughter of Otto and Mabel (Sando) Sanderson. She was baptized and confirmed at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon, attended Northwest rural country school in Allamakee County, and later received her GED in 1992.
June 28, 1950, she married Delbert Winters at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church. They farmed together in Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties before returning to the Sanderson home farm in Paint Creek Township. Rose Marie did chores on the farm in addition to raising her family, plus she had a big garden; therefore, did a lot of canning and freezing of vegetables and fruit.
Her Norwegian heritage was very important to her so she taught her daughters how to make Norwegian items such as lefse, sandbakkels, krumkake and rosettes. After all the kids were in school, she became a cook at Waterville School and then at Waukon High School. For 15 years, starting in 1983, she was the head cook at Makee Manor, retiring in 1998.
Rose Marie was a member of Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church, where she was active in Ladies Aid and Magdalene Circle. Her family and friends were important to her and she enjoyed fishing with her sisters and snowmobiling with her neighbors. Rose Marie also liked playing cards, taking rides in the country to look at the fall colors, was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan, and was the best pie maker. Her favorite bird was the cardinal. When she was in the assisted living and nursing home, she became an avid reader and enjoyed watching the birds at the bird feeder.
Survivors include her children: Janet (Arne) Beneke of New Albin, Ron (Kim) Winters of Waterville, Becky Huck of Waukon, David (Ellen) Winters of Farmersburg and Brad (Patricia Kammeyer) Winters of Waukon; a daughter-in-law, Barb Winters-Kelly and her husband, Wayne Kelly, of Waterville; 12 grandchildren: Jason Beneke, Melissa Niccum, Natalie Rasmussen, Chad, Jared, Corey, Heath, Jessica and Logen Winters, Krista Rasque, and Matt and Amber Huck; and 25 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Delbert, who died in 1996; a son, Dennis Winters; four sisters: Mildred Webster, Stella Wiest, Ella Meier and Bernice Duvel; and a brother, Oswald Sanderson.
Honorary casketbearers were Marie’s great-grandchildren and casketbearers were her grandchildren.
The family feels the following quote to be fitting since she had been confined and isolated due to the COVID-19 virus. The family had to see and wave to her through her window. “When God sends a cardinal, He is letting you know that I am no longer isolated and confined. So look up, wave ‘Hi’, and I will wave back.”
