Gerald Dick Winter, who went by Jerry, was born in Independence, Missouri, to his mother Ella and his father Alvin on August 24, 1939. He grew up in Independence with his older siblings: Donald, David, and Julia. At the young age of seven, he contracted and fell gravely ill with Polio. Not expected to make it through the night, Jerry crawled out of his iron lung that was keeping him alive to curl up and fall asleep in his mother's lap who was waiting in a chair for what appeared to be an inevitably doomed ending for her baby boy. It would not be the end, however, and so would start Jerry's gritty, shoulder-to-the-wheel life he would go on to live. He would go on strong, eventually graduating from William Chrisman High School in 1958. He worked at the Bendix manufacturing plant for a couple of years until he became a soldier. In 1961, he joined the U.S. Army where he would serve in the 101st Airborne as a paratrooper for two years. At the end of his service, Jerry would begin serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He would serve in the Central American mission where he loved teaching and helping people in countries like Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Honduras. It was during his time serving in Honduras when he met Dora Amparo Varela, who he would go on to marry after she decided to move to the United States and go to school. They were married on July 24th of 1964. They would stay married until his passing after almost 59 years together. During that time, they would go on to have two children and eight grandchildren.

Jerry, indeed, lived a full life. Before he and Dora had children, he worked at United Airlines with his brother, David, in San Francisco, California, and went to trade school to learn about jet engine mechanics. He also learned to be a pilot during this time. In the Winter of 1966, Jerry and Dora packed up their car with all their belongings and drove back to Missouri where they would have, and rear, their two children, Gerald Alvin and Diana Alicia. Jerry started working at Trans World Airlines on May 5th of 1967 where he would stay employed for 32 years until his retirement in 1999. He would not retire though, until after he had helped both of his children serve missions in the same church he was raised in and they had started their own lives. Like many other great dads, Jerry quietly worked hard for his family with generosity and love.

Jerry's life was full of ups and downs. In 1986, he entered rehabilitation for alcoholism. His family and friends, including those he used to drink with, rallied around him and he stayed sober for the rest of his life. He was re-baptized into the Church by his son, Gerald, in February of 1990 and led his family to the temple a year later to have them sealed to him on May 18, 1991. Jerry and Dora would later serve three missions together. The first was in 1999 at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, UT. During that mission in 1999, he would suffer a heart attack and need to have open heart surgery. Once out of the hospital, he finished serving his mission with his wife. Once finished with their first mission together, they moved back home to Missouri. They would eventually sell the family home in Missouri and go on to serve a second mission together in Costa Rica in 2003. Upon completion of their Costa Rican mission, they moved to Idaho to be closer to the grandchildren. They would go on yet again to serve another mission in El Salvador in 2013. In 2014 they were prevailed upon to leave their mission early as Jerry was starting to suffer with severe back and hip pain. It would later be discovered that the pain was caused by a fairly rare bone cancer called Multiple Myeloma. He entered treatment that year and ultimately overcame the disease. He also dealt with diabetes since he was in his 50s and health problems for many years without complaint. Though he had some residual pain from the cancer, Jerry would get back on the golf course. Golf was his favorite hobby, but he also enjoyed fishing, bowling and was a prolific reader. Most of all, he enjoyed just being with his family, even if they were just sitting around chewin' the fat or watching sports on TV. He adored his grandchildren and just being a grandpa to them.

He was also extremely proud of the righteousness he saw in his extended family and friends he associated with--all of you! He looked forward to family get-togethers and had been looking forward to his sister-in-law, Valene's, funeral on February 11, 2023. On the day of his death, February 9, 2023, he played golf and busily prepared to travel to Utah to attend her funeral in hopes to be with family that he had not seen in quite some time. Unfortunately, his busy preparations were too much for his heart to sustain him through to the reunion at the funeral. Instead, his heart carried him home to an even longer awaited reunion with family on the other side of the veil. Jerry will be sorely missed by all who knew him here, but he will leave a legacy of hard work, generosity, service, laughter and his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. May God bless us all with great men as he has been in our lives. Jerry is survived by his wife, Dora; his son, Gerald; his daughter, Diana; their spouses, Zuleikah Winter and Seamus Hannigan; and his grandchildren, Daniel, Sabrina, Ethan, Luke, Patria, Olivia, and Winter. Jerry was preceded in death by his father, Alvin Winter; his mother, Ella Hansen; his siblings, Donald Winter, David Winter, and Julia Winter; and his grandson, Ammon Winter.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM, Saturday, February 18, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 121 N Canyon St in Nampa, with a viewing from 12:00 to 12:45 PM at the Church prior to the services.

Live Stream Link https://my.gather.app/remember/gerald-winter