William "Bill" A. Winings

On April 19, 2022, the angels carried an amazing man into the presence of our Lord and Savior. This man would introduce himself as Bill or Billiam Winings. He said his full name, William Arthur Winings, was only used when he was in trouble. He was born October 5th, 1960, into a family with three brothers: Sterling “Butch” Winings, Indianapolis, Richard Winings (Suzy), Union OH, and Duane Winings, Brownsburg.  He was preceded in death by his parents Sterling Winings and Mary Jo Griffith Winings.

Bill had one daughter, Kayla Winings (Mercades), St. Augustine FL. He claimed three more daughters as his own; Crystal Montgomery (Elijah White), Autumn Crary (Taylor), all of Terre Haute, and Kelsey Baker of Hymera. He also claimed three sons as his own, Brandon Montgomery, Isaac Montgomery, and Michael Montgomery (Emily Hunt), also all of Terre Haute. He had 5 grandchildren, Lana, Athena, and Kayden Winings, Maggie Montgomery, and Kaden Crary.

Bill shared a beautiful second chance love story with his wife of almost 11 years, Lori Anne Winings. They met in their early twenties while attending ISU in accounting and they both worked together at the Holiday Inn.  They dated for a time and fell in love. He ended up moving back to Indianapolis.  About twenty-five years later, after they both went through some dark times, they found each other on Facebook. They began dating again and were married about a year later. Many people know that he brought a dozen roses to Lori Anne every Friday for the past 12 years, but only a few know it was to make up for breaking her heart!

Bill proudly served in the US Army from 1978 – 1981 as a Radio Teletype Operator. His service will be honored at his funeral service.

Over the years, he worked as a waiter, bartender, bookkeeper, and printing press operator. More recently, he worked at Rescare, Hamilton Center, and Happiness Bag. Bill was very proud to have finished two Associates Degrees at Ivy Tech Community College in 2017 (Accounting and Business Administration). Although he worked very hard to complete these credentials, he chose to continue providing care and mentorship to those with special needs or mental illness. He felt this was his calling all along.

His kind, uplifting spirit was recognized by many as the rare gift it was, as he had a way of connecting with all kinds of people in a manner that was unique and special to them. He humbly referred to himself as having a servant’s heart. Those whose lives were touched by him would likely agree.

About 10 months ago, Bill and Lori received the shocking news that he had lung cancer that had already spread to his brain. His faith was immediate. He said he wanted to live every day to the fullest and not focus on death because it was all in God’s hands anyway. So, Bill and Lori spent weekends re-connecting with friends and family members. They tried to get everything checked-off of his bucket list. Two big things remained – to zipline and to free fall from an airplane. He was looking forward to doing both of those things when the weather warmed up.  Hopefully, there is a zipline in heaven!

In lieu of flowers, Bill has asked that you consider donating to either of two worthy organizations that meant a lot to him. One is Happiness Bag, the other is Hospice of the Wabash Valley.

Visitation will be held at DeBaun Funeral Home on Saturday, April 30th from 2pm – 4pm with the funeral following at 4pm. His military service will be honored at that time. Those who would like to continue celebrating Bill’s life are invited to gather at 5pm for a meal at Happiness Bag (3833 Union Road, Terre Haute, IN 47802).

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