Evelyn Winger

Evelyn Yvonne Winger was born into this world on December 26th, 1933, a slightly late Christmas gift, and the second child born to Owen and Edna Gish, who were living in Beloit, Kansas. In the midst of the Depression, jobs were hard to find in Beloit, so the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where Owen was able to secure work to support his family.

Their family life centered around their church, and many of the friendships that Evelyn would cherish throughout her life dated back to her high school friends from the youth group at Central Christian Church.

It was at Central that in 1946, at just thirteen, she met Robert Winger. Bob was living at Gillis Home, an orphanage where he was placed due to the ill health of both of his parents. When Bob began attending Central, the Gish family saw someone needing a place to be loved and cared for, and he was a regular guest in their home.

There’s no evidence that, at the beginning, anyone saw the possibility of a match between Bob and Evelyn. And, over the next few years, both had significant relationships with others. But they continued to be part of each other’s life and, eventually, the two began a courtship.

It was on Evelyn’s sixteenth birthday that Bob took her out for a drive in his car. Losing control on the slippery, icy roads of Swope Park, the car ran off an embankment and crashed. Evelyn’s legs were broken, requiring surgery to place pins in her legs, leading to a lengthy hospitalization and recovery period. 

Somehow the relationship survived the accident and even flourished. And soon it became clear that they belonged together. They married on June 29th, 1952.

Bob was a graduate of Manhattan Bible College in Manhattan, Kansas and earned his Master of Divinity from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. Together they began a partnership in ministry that would span 50 years and include service to churches in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Arizona, and Illinois. Bob retired in 2000, and they made their home in Mesa, Arizona where they were an active part of Broadway Christian Church. 

Bob and Evelyn’s marriage was an embodiment of Christ’s declaration that the ‘two shall become one’. Evelyn was always by Bob’s side in ministry. But she had her own gifting and interests, and could be found teaching Sunday School, or playing the piano for a children’s choir. 

She worked outside the home as a high school secretary and later, for many years, as the office administrator of the Berean Christian Bookstore in Canton, Ohio. But it was evident to all that her first love and primary mission was her family.

Bob was the extrovert – facing outward, engaging with the world. Evelyn faced inward and was the emotional anchor of the household. She quietly, patiently, and gently but firmly guided their sons, Larry and Steve, from infancy until they were ready to move out into life on their own. 

It is impossible to adequately convey the patterns of faith, family, love, and service which she modeled to her sons and – later – their families, which now include eight grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.

When Bob passed on February 9th, 2023, Evelyn was left in an unfamiliar position in life. She navigated the next 20-plus months with her typical grace, sweetness, and selflessness. But she was conscious of being out of place. Though surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, she was separated from her life partner of seven decades, and she increasingly began to look forward to the day when she would meet her Lord and be reunited with Bob and the other loved ones who were awaiting her arrival in Heaven. 

When she passed quietly from this life on November 26, 2024, it was to a homecoming that she, and those who love her, embraced as the beginning of her best life. 

Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband, Robert E. Winger, her parents, Owen and Enda Gish, and her brother, Gail Gish. She is survived by son, Lawrence E. Winger and wife Joy, and their son Ryan, wife Maria, and daughter Sofia; their daughter, A.J. Rickeman, husband Tom, and children Eleanor and Henry.

She is also survived by son, Steven O. Winger and wife, Susan, and their children Matthew, wife Gabi and children Vincent and Spencer; son Eddie DiPrimio, wife Heather, and children Peyton, Hensley, and Colton; daughter Bethany Ivey, husband John; grandson Quentin Stevens; daughter Andrea Irish and children Tristan and Taylon; daughter Emily Winger and wife Jen; daughter Hannah Franco, husband Nick, and children Scarlett, Chevelle, and Bennett.

A Celebration of Life will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, January 11, 2025, at Broadway Christian Church, 7335 E Broadway Rd., Mesa, AZ 85208. Interment will be at the Park Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts in memory of Evelyn be made to Broadway Christian Church (Mesa, AZ) or Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, KS).