Jule Winters was born May 30, 1932, in Webster to George and Rose (Folsom) Winters. He passed away Sept. 2, 2023, at the Graham County Hospital in Hill City.
Jule attended school in Webster and graduated from Stockton High School in 1950. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Lala on Dec. 13, 1952, in Phillipsburg. They had two children: Linda Eileen and Steven Jule. Jule and Betty were married almost 65 years when Betty passed away in 2017.
Always a working man, Jule was young when he took his first job setting pins at the bowling alley. He continued working throughout school and took a job in the oil field after high school. His job required the family to move frequently, and they lived in Stockton, Lyons, Hays, Great Bend, Logan, Madison and Russell before settling in Hill City to open Winters Conoco at the corner of Sixth and Main.
They later moved to the corner of Fourth and Main to become Winters Fina and then Winters Texaco. Jule, Betty and Steve were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. When not pumping gas, changing oil, jumpstarting batteries, fixing tires, or any of the other services they provided, Jule could be found sitting in his chair watching the comings and goings of Main Street and visiting with their many customers.
On their Sundays off, Jule and Betty spent the day visiting family in Woodston, fishing, hunting or gathering with family at Webster Lake. To fill his time in his later years, Jule returned to work as the night cashier at Wings Spirits.
The construction of Webster Reservoir and the resulting movement of the town had a big impact on Jule and was perhaps the reason he was enthusiastic about innovation and progress. As such, he loved television. Before television was a fixture in every household, Jule and his good friend Keith Dillon would go downtown to watch boxing matches on the TVs in the store windows. It was therefore a big occasion when the family got their own television and Jule could watch boxing while sitting at home in his easy chair. He also enjoyed watching the news, the weather, and pretty much anything else that was on. Jule had an assortment of weather instruments so he could compare the weatherman’s predictions against his own collection of barometers, thermometers and rain gauges.
Jule was known for his patient and easy-going nature. A former co-worker once told Crystal, “If you can’t get along with Jule Winters, you can’t get along with anyone.” Jule also had an ornery streak and an observant sense of humor. In one famous instance, Jule couldn’t shake the skier he pulled behind the boat. Undeterred, Jule simply stopped the boat and watched his nephew sink in the middle of Webster Lake.
Jule was part of a close-knit family, of which he was a pillar. The Winters family is blessed with long lifespans, and Jule was fortunate to have close relationships with all his siblings that lasted up to nine decades. He was a constant fixture in BJ and Crystal’s lives and was delighted to gain two more granddaughters with the additions of Bailey and then Stevie. Jule served as a large part of his great-grandchildren’s lives and was the first of his siblings to be promoted to the rank of great-great-grandparent.
Jule was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; parents, George and Rose; stepfather Victor Brown; and siblings Viola Paulson, Billy Winters, Ivan Winters, and an infant sister.
He is survived by daughter Linda Winters (Jim Delaney) of Hill City; son Steven (Lana) Winters of Bogue; grandchildren BJ (Jean Ann) Hoeting, Webster, Crystal (Tim) Plante, Hill City, Bailey Loughrey, Norton, and Stevie Winters, Bogue; great-grandchildren Sabre (Alex) Riggins, Hill City, Braidyn Plante (Ray Simite), Lexington, Nebraska, Gavin Plante and Easton Plante, Hill City, Cappi and Cheyenne Hoeting, Webster, Bryten Loughrey, Bogue, and Acelynn and Brexton Loughrey, Norton; and great-great-grandchildren Zach Simite, Lexington, Neb., and Axen and Atlee Riggins, Hill City. Also surviving are sister Georgia Buttermore, Denver, Alva Winters, Hill City, and Lennie (Diane) Winters, Imperial, Neb., along with several nieces, nephews and cousins.
A private memorial service will be at a later date with burial at Ash Rock Cemetery in rural Rooks County. Memorials are suggested to Friends of Webster State Park.