Funeral services for Fred "Fritz" Winter, age 91, of Missoula, MT formerly of Lemmon, SD will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon, SD with Pastor Charlotte Kvale officiating. Burial with Masonic Services provided by the Lemmon Lodge #151 A.F. & A.M. will be at the Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon.


Frederick "Fritz" William Winter was born the 4th of 5 children to Frederick "Fred" Fronz David and Myrtle Marry (Davis) Winter on March 19, 1920 at his father's homestead south of Morristown, SD, where he grew to young manhood. He graduated from 8th grade at Highland View School and from Lemmon High School in 1938. He attended South Dakota Teacher's School in Madison, SD from 1938-1939 where he received a teaching certificate. He taught Twin Butte School near Athboy, SD from 1939-1940 and his old home school from 1940-1942.


He married Viola Eisenbeisz in 1941. Fred and Viola purchased the former William Hankye farm in 1942 where they farmed/ranched.


In 1946, due to a bad back, Fred conferred with his father regarding a job opening at the Morristown State Bank – to which his father replied that he'd seen a lot of bank's go broke but never a banker. Fred never was sure about the advice but he did apply for and received the job. At that point, he sold the farm and went to work on April fool's day, 1946.


He accepted a position at the bank of Lemmon on March 1, 1948 where he worked for 11 ½ years. In 1959, he accepted the challenge of opening a bank in Jordan, MT, where he served as President until 1982 when he retired. The bank originally had one other employee. Shortly thereafter, Viola came to the bank to train in the event that they needed help. 21 years later, she retired as well. Jordan had been 28 years without a bank, since the last failure. Many locals confirmed that they didn't think the bank would last that long. Fred regarded the success of the bank as his major accomplishment. The bank recently celebrated 50 years of operation.


Fred joined the Masonic Lodge in 1949 and served as Worshipful Master for one term in Lemmon and two terms in Jordan.


Following retirement, Fred and Vi traveled extensively in their RV and spent 21 years in Prescott Valley AZ. In 2003, they moved to Spearfish SD and in 2008 to Missoula, MT.


Fred was always looking for a project or something to repair until his sight failed in later years. When he came to visit, you always had a list of things for him to do.


Fred passed away on Monday morning, October 3, 2011 at the Hillside Healthcare Center in Missoula, MT.


He is survived by two sons, Kevin (Margaret) Winter, Missoula, MT and Byron Winter, Amboy, WA; two grandchildren, William Winter, Bartelsville, OK, and Jennifer Winter, Oakland, CA; three great-grandchildren; one sister, Lavina Peters, Seattle, WA; one brother-in-law, Clarence Eisenbeisz; four sisters-in-law, Irene Eisenbeisz, Edna Loughlin, Martha O'Donnell and Agnes Glatt; and numerous nieces and nephews.


Fred was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 69 years, Viola; two brothers, Phillip and Daniel Winter; and one sister, Eleanor Jenson.


Visitation will be on Friday, October 7, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon.


In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to Community Medical Center Foundation, 2827 Ft. Missoula Rd, Missoula, MT 59804, the Garfield County Swimming Pool Fund, c/o Garfield County Bank, P O Box 6, Jordan, MT 59337 or charity of donor's choice.