Helen B. Winder

Helen Beatrice Nutall Winder, a long-time resident of Grand Forks, North Dakota, went home to be with the Lord on July 12^th, 2019. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, retired Master Sergeant James R. Winder, Sr. and three children who were born to this union: James R. Winder, Jr. and wife Vickie of Jacksonville, Arkansas; Donna Dandridge of Houston, Texas; and Teresa Felton and husband Tracy of Zanesville, Ohio.

She’s also survived by seven grandchildren: Carlos Dandridge (Nicole) of Zanesville, Ohio; Tanya Preston (Jeff) of Columbus, Ohio; Tiffany May (John) of Columbus, Ohio; and Ashley Turner of Cambridge, Ohio; Natalie Winder, Kiara Winder, and Jordan Winder all of Jacksonville, Arkansas; three great-grandchildren: Kadin Dandridge, Kylah Dandridge, and Aurora Turner; and treasured friends Elaine Lewandowski-Johnson, Linda Campbell and Jackie Fillmore. She is further survived by four living brothers and one sister: Robert Kennard and wife Joyce Kennard, Jarvis Kennard and wife Gurtha Kennard, Charles Kennard, Larry Kennard and wife Carolyn of Bryan, Texas and Carolyn Kennard Shepherd of Houston, Texas and In-laws Ellen Winder (Ralph) and Sanford Winder (Peggy) of Baltimore, Maryland

At an early age she gave her life to Christ at New Chapel Baptist under the late Reverend Diggs. She remained an avid church worker and choir member until she left to get married and moved away. She was raised a Baptist in her early life and she later converted to Lutheranism, which was the religion of her husband. She was a practicing Lutheran for the full 64 years of her married life. Moving many times throughout the career of her husband, Helen and Jim always managed to find a Lutheran church to join. Until the last few months of her life, she and Jim were regular working members at Sharon Lutheran Church presided over by Pastor Lynn Ronsberg. In their younger years, they were in engaged in many ministries from ushering to children’s church to fundraising.

Helen was a great cook and was passionate about the preparation of food. She loved to cook everything from meats to desserts. Her specialties were her cornbread and her soups. She loved to brag about her Texas barbecue to her friends in North Dakota and Canada. Because of her outgoing personality, she had lots of friends and she never met a stranger. She was one of those people that had the unique capacity to walk into a room and own it. She was a snappy dresser, always a lady, and loved shoes and jewelry. She did not believe in stepping outside of her door without being fully-dressed and ready to go. She loved to go to parties and balls, conduct weddings, give parties and dinners, and teach etiquette classes. One of her last volunteer teaching jobs was at the University of North Dakota where she taught beginning nurses proper etiquette and how to interact with geriatric patients. In her early years, her fondest job was as a personal shopper for elderly patients in a retirement home in Topeka, Kansas. She worked with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, was team mom for her son’s football team, basketball team, her daughter’s track team and band. She could always be counted on by her children’s teachers to volunteer in whatever capacity she was needed. She had a talent for teaching young air force officers social skills and etiquette. She had a love for traveling, trying different foods, and learning the culture of the places that she visited. Her favorite pastime was embroidery, knitting, and quilting. She had a green thumb for growing beautiful and vegetables.

Visitation will be Wednesday, July 17, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. followed by a prayer service at 2:00 p.m. at Amundson Funeral Home of Grand Forks.  A funeral service will take place in Bryan, TX at a later date.