Serving West Michigan Since 1899

Darlene Winter

July 21, 1927 - August 4, 2022
Holland, MI

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Visitation

Thursday, August 11, 2022
10:30 AM to 11:45 AM EDT
Dykstra Funeral Homes
Northwood Chapel
295 Douglas Avenue
Holland, MI 49424
(616) 392-2348
Driving Directions

Service

Thursday, August 11, 2022
12:00 PM EDT
Dykstra Funeral Homes
Northwood Chapel
295 Douglas Avenue
Holland, MI 49424
(616) 392-2348
Driving Directions

Contributions


At the family's request memorial contributions are to be made to those listed below. Please forward payment directly to the memorial of your choice.

Fellowship Ref. Church
2165 West Lakewood Blvd.
Holland, MI 49424

Herrick Public Library
300 South River Ave.
Holland, MI 49423

Life Story / Obituary


Print

Darlene Groen Winter was born July 21, 1927 in Olivet, South Dakota. Her parents were Henry and Elizabeth Asche Groen. Following graduation from Scotland High School in 1945, Darlene attended Southern State Teacher’s College in Springfield, South Dakota and taught rural schools in South Dakota for a few years. She then attended York College in York, Nebraska and earned a BS degree in Education.

On September 8, 1950 Darlene married Fred Winter. Following their marriage, Darlene continued to teach school in Nebraska and with her husband, who was a lay minister, served Methodist Churches in Gresham and Endicott, Nebraska.

Two children were born to the Winter family while they lived in Nebraska. They are Bette Fedorchik of College Station, Texas, and Darla Winter of Holland. Darlene has six grandchildren: Joseph III (Emily), Misha (Marta), and Thomas (Rebecca) Fedorchik; and Alex (Esther), Andrew, and Katie (Robby Valdez) Moritz. Darlene has three great-grandsons: Julian Valdez, Arlo Moritz, and another on the way due in October. She has two great-granddaughters: Lucy Fedorchik and Rachel Moritz.

Darlene enjoyed traveling and was very proud of the fact that she had visited each of the fifty states, more than fifty foreign countries and major islands, had touched the waters of all five oceans, and had been on six of the seven continents (although she did have a flyover tour of Antarctica as well).

In addition to being a teacher, Darlene spent many years working in various libraries. She started the church libraries at First Reformed and Christ Memorial Churches, and was a chemistry librarian at Hope College. She also spent more than twelve years as a reference and genealogy library assistant at Herrick District Library.

Various honors which she received in the field of genealogy were recognition by the Michigan Sons of the Revolution, the Michigan Genealogical Council, and she was listed in the “Who’s Who in the Midwest” for her work in the field of genealogy and journalism as well as being listed in the Who’s Who in Genealogy in the United States and Canada. She wrote and edited six or more genealogies and books in related fields.

For a number of years, Mrs. Winter wrote for a historical column for the Holland Sentinel called “On the Way to Today”.

She was a founding member of the Holland Genealogical Society and holds memberships in the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America and the South Dakota Historical Society. She has held memberships in the Holland Woman’s Literary Club, Evergreen Commons, and the International Platform Speakers Association.

Darlene is a member of Fellowship Reformed Church. She is survived by her daughters, a sister- Mrs. Twyla Hora of Olivet, South Dakota. She is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, a sister, and a son-in-law.

From the Moritz kids:

Darlene was a wonderful Grandma and Great-Grandma. Every year on our birthdays she would call and sing happy birthday to us. She taught us many things including how to play Pick-Up-Sticks and Jax, among other fun games. On the wall in her house, you will find a place where she would measure how much we grew-always getting on us about standing on our tip-toes. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, we would gather there for dinner and family time, and every Easter we would have an Easter egg hunt. Those traditions at her house are very missed, but the memories live on.

She always told us how proud she was of us and encouraged us to strive for continuous improvement. She was goofy, witty, and a wonderful person to be around. She will be deeply missed by all of us. We love you Grandma/Great-Grandma.

A funeral service will be 12:00 pm, Thursday, August 11, 2022 at Dykstra Funeral Homes-Northwood Chapel, 295 Douglas Avenue in Holland. Reverend David Blauw will be officiating. A private family graveside will be held following the service.

Visitation will be from 10:30am-11:45am prior to the service. Memorial contributions may be given to Fellowship Reformed Church or Herrick Public Library.