Obituary: Francis “Gene” Winter

Francis “Gene” Winter, 86, of Waterloo passed away at UPH/Allen Hospital following a brief illness on  Friday, December 12, 2025. He was born across the railroad tracks in his family home in Jackson Junction, Iowa, on  March 3, 1939. Gene was the son of Lorenz and Pearl Winter. His love for the outdoors began when he walked to his  one-room schoolhouse with his rifle slung across his back. After graduating from Fredericksburg High School, he  enlisted in the Navy and was stationed on the USS Forrestal Aircraft Carrier.  

While home on leave, Gene attended a dance at the Colosseum in Oelwein where he saw a stunning  redhead across the room by the name of Jane Snyder. After a short courtship, she became his wife on June 15, 1963,  at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waterloo. It was a hot day and the church was sweltering leading them both to pass  out briefly during the ceremony. This year they celebrated their 62nd anniversary. 

Gene worked for Iowa Public Service (now Mid-American) as well as Cedar Falls Utilities as a Lineman/ Journeyman. He spent countless hours climbing poles in every type of weather. Gene retired in 2001.  Gene’s lifelong passion for bowhunting inspired him to become one of the founding members of Iowa  Bowhunters Association (IBA) as well as Iowa Traditional Bowhunters Society (ITBS). After retirement, he opened  the Winter Bow Shoppe where he taught many people nationwide how to make a longbow out of a stick of wood  (stave of Osage Orange). Gene was also a master flint knapper fashioning his own arrowheads. His group hosted  many shoots in the spring in Eldora as well as Ames, where countless stories of hunting were told around campfires  at night. 

Gene had many endeavors in his life such as making maple syrup, building canoes and making hovercrafts.  He built a ten-thousand-gallon pond/garden for Jane where they spent the summers tweaking the landscape and  watching their koi lazily swim. There was, truly, no challenge that eluded him. 

Both Gene and Jane were longtime members of Blessed Sacrament Church where they sang in the adult  choir for many years. 

Gene was preceded in death by parents, and his siblings, John and Joan. He is survived by his wife, Jane;  children: Laura (Garland) Angove, Michael (Lori) Winter and Ellen Humphrey; grandchildren: John Winter, Robert  (Katelyn) Winter, Madison (Austin) Timmer, Alexis Humphrey, Mason Humphrey and Dallas (Shannon) Angove; 6  great-grandchildren; Pat Campbell and Zac Green, who both held a special place in Gene’s heart; as well as his  beloved dog, Ozzy. 

Services will be held at 10:30 am with visitation an hour before today, December 18, 2025, at Blessed  Sacrament Catholic Church of Waterloo. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Waterloo. Memorials may be  directed to the Family.