John Winker

John Winker, age 43, of St. Paul, MN, passed away Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. A Celebration of Life will be held at Willoughby Funeral Home in Howard, on Sunday, March 19, 2023 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Inurnment will be held at Better Place Forests Conservation Area in California, at a date/time to be determined.

John Charles Winker was born March 19, 1979, to Charles and Patricia Winker, in Madison. He was raised on a farm near Winfred and attended school at Howard. He graduated from Howard High School in 1996.

John was incredibly smart and was always yearning to learn. He went to college at SDSU in Brookings, majoring in Electrical Engineering and graduating in 2000. He moved to St. Paul and worked at several jobs before landing at Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis, where he worked for 12 years as an IT Security Specialist. He also obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Behavior from the College of St. Scholastica in 2013 and received a law degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul in 2020.

His passions were working on old cars and riding motorcycles. He was very proud of his Ford Falcons, his Econoline truck, and his American Motors Eagle. His motorcycles took him numerous places, including California, Sturgis, and Beartooth Pass, and those who joined him on these trips will remember him forever. He was clever and had a great sense of humor and could always generate laughter with his witty comments and jokes. The love of his life was his dog, Zoey. They were an adorable pair.

John is survived by his siblings, Dan of Ramsey, MN; Jerry of Winfred, Nancy (John) Ward of Brandon, Elizabeth of Karlsruhe, Germany, and Harold of Winfred, along with his nephew, Paul Winker and nieces Christina, Samantha, and Clara Winker, and his four-legged, best-friend Zoey.

John was preceded in death by his parents.

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