Winifred "Winnie" Elaine Hilborn

On February 16th, 1926, Winnie was born at home on the family farm a few miles from Grainfield, KS. Her parents were Arthur R. Russell and Florence I.(Cooper) Russell. She had two younger brothers, Lawrence and Dale.

Winnie spent her early years on the farm outside Grainfield, KS, attending school in Grainfield. When she was 16 years old her family moved to Golden, CO where she finished her last 2 years of high school and Graduated in 1943.

After completing high school, Winnie went to work for Coors porcelain plant. She worked there for one summer before she was laid off. On March 22, 1947 she married Garald W. Williams in Lawrence, KS. During the time they were married they traveled around the United States picking apples and strawberries as well as other odd jobs. They were divorced in 1952. No children were born to this union.

Winnie then attended telegrapher school and went to work for the railroad. Part of her duties included passing messages to the engineers as the trains went by. She was also responsible for loading mail bags and cream cans on and off of the train. The men working on the train would help her with the heavy lifting until the company banned them from doing so. Winnie was only 4’10” tall and didn’t weigh as much as the mailbags so was unable to do the duties required for her job forcing her to resign.

Winnie then moved to Oakley where she went to work for the Bell Telephone Co. This is where she met Raymond D. Hilborn. They were married on May 15, 1954 and later transferred to Colby, KS where they lived for several years. During this time Winnie gave birth to three children; Marjorie Ann, Dana Kaye and Tina Gail. She quit working in order to stay home and raise the children. In 1965 the family moved to Hoxie, KS where they bought and managed the Plains Motel. Ray continued working for the telephone company while Winnie managed the motel, including all of the cleaning and laundry. In 1972 they separated and Winnie moved to Cheyenne, WY where she went to work for the telephone company again. Winnie and Ray were divorced in 1978.

Winnie eventually transferred to ATT in the Denver area. She later moved in with her mom in Northglenn in order to help her with cooking, cleaning, etc. She retired from the telephone company so she could take care of her mother full time. After her mom’s passing, Winnie and her daughter bought a house together in West Minster, CO where they lived until the time of her passing.

Winnie attended the Methodist Church in Colby, KS while living there. She transferred her membership to the Christian Church in Hoxie following the move there. She attended church in Federal Heights until she could no longer drive. Then she watched services on television on Sunday.

Winnie had many hobbies including several types of needlework such as embroidery, crochet, and counted cross stitch, just to name a few. She was also an avid collector of many things. She was active with a group of folks from her church that got together to play cards once a month. Winnie was also a member of the Telephone Pioneers and the Communication Workers of America.

Winnifred is survived by:

Her children-Marjorie Ann Davis of Westminster, CO; Dana Kaye Hilborn and Wife Cheri of Carbondale, CO; and Tina Perrin and Husband Willard of Oberlin, KS.

Grandchildren-Jesse Hilborn, Rex Hilborn, Ryan Hilborn, Daniel Perrin, Valerie (Perrin) McDaniel and David Perrin.

Great Grandchildren-Adyson, Caiden, Emily, Rylie, Alyssa, Gavin and Aiden

Several nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, cousins and friends

And her cat Jupiter.

Winnifred was predeceased by:

Her parents, Arthur and Florence (Cooper) Russell

Brothers- Lawrence and wife Peggy Russell, Dale and wife Betty Russell

Many aunts, uncles, cousins, a niece, a nephew; and many friends

And her cat, Callie.

Memorials should be made to the charity of your choice.