Betty Lucille “Lulu” Winkelman, a resident of Huntley, Illinois, passed away on 9 February, at the age of 111 years, 312 days. Her passing was confirmed through a public obituary published by the Memphis Funeral Home (Memphis, Missouri).
Winkelman was born on 3 April 1913 to a farming family in rural Missouri. She was the second-eldest of six children. She regularly fed the chickens and gathered wood for the stove. During the winter, she rode a horse to her one-room schoolhouse and would walk two miles daily in the summer. Winkelman’s father fell ill when she was a child, and her mother had to care for him as well as six children. At the age of 15, Winkelman journeyed alone to Chicago to live with an aunt. In 1929, aged 16, she found work as a phone operator at Illinois Bell, which later became AT&T.
Following the company’s switch to dial service, Winkelman worked her way up to become a consultant, assisting Chicago businesses with their communication systems, including the police department and numerous hospitals. She worked for the company for almost four decades, retiring in 1968.
Winkelman met her husband, Lawrence “Larry” Winkelman, at a house party. The couple married on 23 August 1934. They had no children, opting instead to travel around the world and go on many cruises. She was widowed in September 1990.
At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest (known) living person in the U.S. state of Illinois, only after Wenonah Bish.
The featured image: My Sun Day News
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Lulu Winkelman during this difficult time.
