Wilburta D. Winterlin

A beautiful, loving, yet humble mother went to be with her Maker on November 17, 2011. Wilburta Darlene Winterlin, 96, a resident of Bettendorf, peacefully crossed over into God’s wonderful hands surrounded by her loving family at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf. Services celebrating her life will be held on Wednesday, November 23rd, at the Runge Mortuary in Davenport, Iowa. Visitation will be from 12:30 to 2:30 PM with services starting at 2:30 PM. Online condolences may be expressed at www.rungemoruary.com.

Wilburta, or “Willie” as she was fondly known, was born January 15, 1915 on a farm near Wapello, Iowa to Nellie and Wilbur Ball. She was the second of six children. The others, Albert, Burdette, Loyal, Betty, and Raymond all preceded her in death.

Growing up during the depression era, she took on much of the responsibility of raising her younger siblings, as well as those duties involving housekeeping and daily farming chores, thus allowing her mother to take a job in order to bring additional funds into the family. The skills and traits learned here greatly abetted her throughout her entire life.

“Willie” graduated with honors from Davenport High School in 1936; and began her working career as a waitress at Bishop’s cafeteria in downtown Davenport. On September 17, 1938 she married LaVerne Charles Winterlin and for the next several years fully devoted her time to raising four children- Judith Ann (deceased), Gerald Lee (LeClaire, Iowa), Ronald Charles (San Mateo, California), and William Rex (Davenport, Iowa). All four children were greatly blessed to have such a sterling role model as their mother. When the nest emptied, she re-entered the academic field; attending and graduating with honors with a business degree from a local college in Davenport. She landed a job with Leonard Ewolt Construction Company (Davenport), starting as a bookkeeper and eventually retiring as Chief Accountant.

After retirement, Wilburta remained very active pursing many talents and interests; among them were: cooking, macramé, sewing, and gardening. In regards to each talent she was widely recognized as a chef extraordinaire, master of macramé, consummate seamstress, and five star “green thumb” gardener. She also enjoyed walking, biking, swimming, and traveling.

Most important of all “Willie” was a blessed Angel during her time on this earth. She taught her children and all that came to know her well about the importance of integrity, strength of spirit, faith in the Almighty, and perseverance to never give-up in life. From all her sons: We thank you, mom, for all you did for us and we will love you for evermore. The hole in our hearts will only be filled when we meet again. We know that Heavens gain is our only temporary loss.

The family would like to send a special thanks to all the medical personnel and caregivers involved in mother’s care over the years with a special thank you to Dr. Steve Sorensen. Please make any memorials to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa.