Richard J. Winkel Sr.

Visitation for Richard J. Winkel Sr., 80, of Bourbonnais, will be from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home, Bourbonnais, and from noon Monday at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Bradley, until the 1 p.m. funeral services. Pastor Patty Heath will officiate. Burial will be in Kankakee Memorial Gardens, Aroma Township. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Bradley, Good Shepherd Manor or to the donor’s choice. He died Wednesday (May 16, 2012) at Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee. Mr. Winkel was elected Kankakee County auditor in 1968, an office he held for 29 years, retiring in December 1997. He formerly worked as a district manager with Farmers Insurance for about 10 years, at the Roper Corporation and as a farmer. He was born July 23, 1931, in Chebanse, the son of Edward H. and Dorothy Nordmeyer Winkel. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving as a military policeman during the Korean conflict. He was very involved in Our Savior Lutheran Church, where he was a past chairman, deacon of the congregation and a Sunday school teacher. He was a leader of Cub Scout Pack 327 for several years. He was a 1949 graduate of Chebanse High School and a great handyman. He loved his family and working in his yard. He enjoyed painting pictures. At one time he had seven grandchildren in the military all at the same time. Surviving are his wife, the former Betty M. Reardanz, of Bourbonnais, whom he married Nov. 19, 1955; two sons and one daughter-in-law, Richard J. Jr. and Debra Winkel, of Urbana, and Ronald J. Winkel, of Kankakee; two daughters, Deborah L. Greco, of New Market, Md., and Janice M. Heneghan, of Houston, Texas; 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren; two sisters and one brother-in-law, Edna Witheft, of Herscher, and Lois and Norman Cooper, of St. Anne; and three sisters-in-law, Effie Winkel, of Detroit, Mich., Donna Winkel, of Melbourne, Fla., and Betty Panozzo, of Kankakee. He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, Raymond, Robert, Edward and Kenneth; and two sisters, Dorothy and Marge. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Our Savior Lutheran Church _ oursaviorlutheran.info/ , Good Shepherd Manor - www.goodshepherdmanor.org or to the donor's choice.

Richard J. Winkel Sr.

July 23, 1931 - May 16, 2012