William Hardin Winn Sr.

William H. (Bill) Winn passed away December 9th, 2014 at the age of 92. He was born in Hamilton, Ohio on January 12, 1922. His father died when he was seven and he spent his formative years in an orphanage run by his mother. He was a student at Wabash College for two years until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Like thousands of other young men he enlisted in the Army Infantry spending most of his time in France and Germany. Following WWII he graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in business. On September 13, 1942 he married June C. Hathorn. They were married 72 years and she survives him. Bill is also survived by his sister, Donna Sadler, sons, Bill Jr., John (Zita), daughters-in-law Janna and Lolly, grandchildren George (Connie) Winn, Brenda Winn, Billy (Melissa) Winn, Wendy (Bill) Taylor, Heidi (Kevin) Hall, Amy (Sean) Smith, Kenny Anderson, Zita Anderson and 13 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death last year by his son, Charlie and grandsons, Trent Winn and Taylor Winn. Bill spent many years in the appliance industry in sales management. In 1971 he changed industries and became President of North American Sales and Marketing for Triumph, BSA Motorcycles. In 1975, he and his three sons, Charlie, Bill Jr. and John, formed Four Winns Inc. to manufacture fiberglass power boats in Cadillac, MI. In only 11 years the company grew to be the third largest in the world with headquarters in Cadillac including engineering, manufacturing and sales, and a satellite manufacturing in Athens, Texas employing a total of more than 1,600 people. From the very first year the company made a profit, Bill insisted on starting an employee profit sharing program which grew into the millions until the family sold the company to Outboard Marine Corporation. He not only shared monetarily with the employees and community of Cadillac, he spent much of his time volunteering to make a better life for many, a trait he tried hard to pass on to all generations of his family. He wore a button that said RMA, Right Mental Attitude, and he was the epitome of that attitude. In 1978, our third year in business, we burned to the ground, losing everything. In 1980 consumer interest rates were 20%, Jimmy Carter proposed banning boating on weekends and our industry was hit with a 10% luxury tax on boats. While we were all frightened about our survival, Bill Sr. gave us hope and confidence and taught us to do more with less. He said you can’t appreciate the good times unless you have experienced the bad. To the remaining employees we had, he passed out his RMA buttons and, as they say, the rest is history. A family memorial will be held at a later date. Condolence cards may be mailed to June Winn at The Terraces, 26475 S. Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs, FL 34135. Memorial contributions may be made in the support of the Leukemia Research Efforts of Dr. Moshe Talpaz at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, c/o Office of Health System Development, 1000 Oakbrook Drive, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-6815; or the Michigan Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Bill’s honor. Bill lost his son last year to leukemia.

William Hardin Winn Sr.

January 12, 1922 - December 9, 2014