Lorraine Phillips Winkler

GUILDERLAND -Lorraine Phillips Winkler, 79, daughter of Marguerite Phillips and George Winkler, passed away October 1, 2013. She grew up in Albany and moved to the McKownville section of Guilderland in the 1950s to a home she both designed and loved. Lorraine graduated from Cazenovia College in 1954 with a degree in Merchandising, and spent her professional life at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. She made lifelong friends at the Department, loved to sing at office parties and shared priceless stories about her times at work.

Lorraine was an extraordinary gardener, a gift she believed came from her grandmother. Neighbors walking up and down Glenwood Street would frequently stop to admire her gardens and to ask for help with their own. Lorraine's yard was a small nature preserve full of plants, birds, and butterflies. Her love of nature and animals spilled into her home as well. She shared her life with her many cats and loved them all. She was devoted to them, and was certain that any heaven worthy of the name would have to include felines.

She loved her trips to Ogunquit, Maine and her camp on Round Pond in Rensselaer County. Her grandmother built the camp in 1934 when Lorraine was 6 months old. She spent most of her childhood summers there, swimming and playing with the other children who came for the season. She loved the theater and enjoyed Broadway plays and the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. She often spoke about the great play she and the other teenagers performed at the camp clubhouse one year.

Lorraine was determined and strong. To the end, she was planning her next year's garden and perhaps another trip to Ogunquit. Her friend, Carol, called her a "comfortable friend." She said, "Lorraine spoke her mind, but was never hurtful." She was quietly, but extremely generous. Lorraine will be missed by her neighbors, her many friends and especially by the Temps family she "adopted."

Friends and neighbors are invited to gather and share their memories and stories of Lorraine on November 2, 2013 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at The Interfaith Center on the University at Albany campus, 1400 Washington Avenue. (www.albanyinterfaithcenter.org) Donations in Lorraine's name can be made to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, 3 Oakland Avenue, Menands, NY 12204.