Carol Jean (Merritt) Winkler was born on April 18th 1936 to Harwell and Beatrice Merritt in Orange Cove, California. She passed away June 18th 2022 in Portland, Oregon surrounded by her family.
In 1939 her family moved to Tulelake, California for a short time then on to Gresham, Oregon where her father went to work for the shipyard. She was raised on the farm they purchased in 1941 and lived on that property her entire life. Carol attended Powell Valley Grade School and Gresham Union High School, graduating in 1954. She married the love of her life Joseph William Winkler( Bill) that same year. They had four children Susan Fraser, Brad, Linda Laughery (Steve), and Cathy Chase (Sheldon). They gave her nine grandchildren followed by 17 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren all of which she loved immensely. She had three siblings; Charles Arthur, Theresa Gerber and Louis Gordon, and numerous nieces and nephews that were dearly loved by her.
Known as the “Lunch Lady”, she worked at Powell Valley grade school for 35 years in the kitchen. Money or not, she made sure every child had a lunch. Her husband of 64 years preceded her in death, as did both her parents and brother Charles. She loved sharing the holidays with her family, family reunions, road trips, casinos and cooking for her family.
A service for Carol will be held at Gresham Memorial Chapel on Friday, July 1, 2022 at 11:30am.
Condolence(1) 
Charlotte says
June 30, 2022 at 11:47 pmI wanted to be there but circumstances out of our control prohibited me from coming. She was mom to me for 40+ years and treated me as if I was one of her daughters . She is going to be missed by so many of us but I’m glad to have all the good memories I have of our time together. It’s going to be rough for everyone but remember to cling to all of those wonderful memories that were made with her. She is no longer in pain and is reunited with the love of her life and many others that went before her and would want everyone to go on living their lives to the fullest. It’s time to carry on her traditions and make sure the new ones that come into the family know what a wonderful person she was. Hugs to all of you in this time of sorrow, my heart aches for all of the family.