Joan Brown Winter

Joan Brown Winter died at her home in San Antonio on Saturday the 29th of May, 2010. She was 87 years old. The daughter of Henry Lutcher Brown and Emily Wells Brown, she was born in Orange, Texas, on the 7th of June 1922, the fourth generation of a family which had been fundamental in the development of the timber, pulp and paper industry in East Texas and Louisiana.

She attended Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, Texas; Ethal Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut; Incarnate Word High School in San Antonio, Texas; and Finch College, Manhattan, New York. She trained at Randolph Army Air Corps airfield during WWII in the Army Air Corp's program for ferrying war planes as well as serving as a Red Cross volunteer ambulance driver.

Throughout her life she sustained an ardent interest in history and the arts --among other things, commissioning the Mother and Child statue by Charles Umlauf for the Witte Museum in memory of her son, Philip, and funding the production of an elegant book on classical Egyptian Sculpture. She donated the land for and helped to establish the Montessori School which is today associated with Saint Mary's Hall. She was an ardent supporter of the Witte Museum and the McNay Art Institute. She was a member of the San Antonio Junior League, National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Texas, the San Antonio Country Club, the Argyle Club, Alamo Heights Garden Club, Battle of the Flowers, the Assembly, Club Giraud, Timely Topics, and the Fenwick Club.

A dearly beloved mother, she is survived by her three sons, George Lutcher Winter, his wife Janet Gruy, their four children, Magdelena Winter and great-granddaughter Josephine, George Winter, Gabby Winter Gruy, and Philip Winter, and his wife Tracy Tittle; Brian Lutcher Winter, his wife Jane; Bruce Lutcher Winter, and his wife Tammy, and their daughters, Nikki Winter and Abby Winter.

The family would like to thank Jeanette Rhodes, Sylvia Mascorro, Beatriz Hinojoza, Anne and Lenny Panzer, and staff for the dedication and truly special help with which they provided Mrs. Winter in her last years.

She loved giving to and helping children thus in lieu of flowers, a donation to the Methodist Children's Hospital would be appreciated. Other charities she supported included the Sunshine Cottage of the Deaf and The Guide Dogs Association. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday the 5th of June 2010 at The First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, 404 N. Alamo Street. Interment is private.

Arrangements under the direction of Sunset Memorial Park & Funeral Home, San Antonio, TX.