Cindy Sue Winger, nee Fosnough, passed away peacefully on Jan 9th in her home in Long Grove, Illinois, surrounded by family members, after a long illness. Independent and assertive to the last, she is remembered by family and friends as both an adventurous spirit and an elegant lady, both a loving & supportive wife & mother and a determined businesswoman making her way in the world, both a great cook and a talented, hands on, boat mechanic.
She was born in Marion, Indiana, in 1945 and attended Oak Hill High School and Ball State University. Just before her senior year at Oak Hill, her father was transferred by Anaconda to New York where she met Cadet John Winger at West Point. It was a blind date, but she was suitably introduced by her father and accompanied by her sister. When she subsequently met John’s family, her youngest future brother-in-law still remembers being impressed by the glamorous girlfriend of his older brother. When Cindy & John married at West Point in 1966, it was in front of a large Hoosier crowd.
John’s first assignment was in Germany and Cindy immersed herself in planning weekend excursions & longer vacations and hosting family visitors. One mishap was breaking her ankle on her first trip to a ski slope. Undaunted, she soon engineered a 3-day blitz of Paris in a walking cast.
Germany was followed by a 2-year stint in California where Mike was born, John was in graduate school and Cindy was president of the large Officers Wives’ Club of Stanford University.
Leaving Stanford, John went to Vietnam while Cindy & Mike lived with her supportive parents during those troubled times. Upon John’s return, the small family spent a few months at Ft. Benjamin Harrison and then moved to Virginia where Mark was born. While there, Cindy became a Colonial Virginia and Civil War buff.
In 1974, John completed his Army obligation and began work with General Electric in Pittsfield Massachusetts. Cindy promptly joined Welcome Wagon and moved up to become president. In Pittsfield, as at Stanford, being president involved a lot of social activity and Cindy’s house was the place to go. And her kitchen was always her father-in-law’s favorite restaurant whenever he came to town. A big plus for Pittsfield was that Cindy’s parents, sister and brother all lived within a few hours so there were lots of visitors. And the skiing conditions were enticing enough that Cindy shrugged off her prior mishap and learned how to ski. And so did Mike.
In 1977, however, Cindy & John moved to Milwaukee to join a more dynamic GE business – Medical Systems which was expanding to include CT & MR.
Upon arrival, Cindy got involved in community activities and then became president of the PTA for the local elementary school. As her sons became involved with soccer and wrestling, she learned the sports, cheered them on and took turns carpooling. She always took a great deal of interest in John’s GE jobs and provided strong ongoing support and sound advice.
Cindy spent a year in real estate, earning recognition for outstanding performance, but then moved into the travel business to leverage her European experience and to get more weekend and evening time with the family. The travel business was a great fit for her and by 1985 she had started her own company. It was a great fit for the family too as it provided another dimension for family activity. She was very proud to be able to take the family on multiple European vacations and to purchase her own Accura. And her family was proud of her. Gradually, though, the price structure of the travel industry changed as route competition increased and airlines absorbed more of the total booking volume. Eventually, Cindy had to shut the business down and look for other involvement opportunities, but it was a great, culturally enriching run while it lasted.
Downhill skiing had been a casualty of the move to Milwaukee, but that family activity was replaced by boating, initially on small inland lakes, but ultimately on Lake Michigan. And Cindy was a very enthusiastic participant. She negotiated the price of progressively larger sailboats and spent a Mother’s Day weekend refurbishing one of these. For several years, Cindy, John & their boys sailed on Lake Geneva from a mooring adjacent to that of her sister and her family. Once her sister moved to the Carolinas, Cindy & John joined the Milwaukee Yacht Club and moved to Lake Michigan (on a larger boat Cindy had found). On the big lake, in emergency situations, she would read operator manuals and take corrective action while John remained at the helm to keep the boat under control in the interim. Or if there was a problem with a sail up front, she would go forward to fix it while John remained at the helm. She became Captain of the club’s Cruising Fleet and led 17 boats 80 miles across the lake. A number of boat captains had been reluctant to cross and only went because they knew Cindy would take care of them. Cindy’s activity also provided more visibility to John and ultimately led to him becoming Commodore of the club. Cindy meanwhile became Commander of the Milwaukee Sail & Power Squadron.
Another project Cindy worked on was designing a new house. She began with touring the entire Milwaukee metropolitan area for both old homes and new construction but couldn’t find exactly what she wanted. Next, she began checking out library books with hundreds of designs, but again nothing was quite right. Next step was a xerox, cut & paste effort combining the best features of multiple designs. Encouraged by the results, she bought drafting equipment and began to smooth out the rough spots in the cut & paste effort. Then she hired an architect for further smoothing and a building contractor to construct the final product. The result was spectacular.
In 2009, following John’s retirement, Cindy & John began to split time between Milwaukee in the summer and Venice Florida in the winter until in 2013 the Milwaukee home was sold preparatory to moving from a smaller to a larger home in Florida. Meanwhile, they became quite involved with the Venice Yacht Club. In 2017, though, having experienced several Florida summers, they bought another Milwaukee area home for summer use and subsequently bought a motorboat (having previously sold their last sailboat) and re-engaged with the Milwaukee Yacht Club. By 2024, due to increasing health concerns and a desire to be closer to their sons, Cindy & John had reduced their real estate holdings to a single home now located in the Chicago area. Over the past year they have taken their sons and families on several overseas vacations in order to share again the excitement of such travel.
My great lady, I am glad we were able to have a last year of travel and a last boating season together and with our sons. We have shared a wonderful life together and I will always miss you. Rest now in peace .… love, your John
Funeral services will be 10:30 am, Saturday, January 18, 2025, at First United Methodist Church, 110 N. Cass Street, Wabash, with Pastor J.P. Freeman, officiating. Burial will be in Falls Cemetery, Wabash. Friends may call Saturday, January 18, 2025, 9:00 am – 10:30 am at the church. Arrangements by Grandstaff-Hentgen Funeral Service, Wabash.
Preferred memorials are the American Cancer Society or Alzheimer’s Association
The memorial guest book for Cynthia “Cindy” may be signed at www.grandstaff-hentgen.com.
