Nicholas "Nick" W. Winter

Nicholas “Nick” W. Winter, 80, Rockford, a resident of Wesley Willows Health Center, passed away on the early morning of Wednesday, October 25, 2023. He was born March 7, 1943, in Birmingham, AL, the son of Roland and Mary (Hagen) Winter. He graduated from Rockford East High School in 1961, where he competed in Cross Country and Track and Field, specializing in the pole vault. He attended Northern Illinois University on an athletic scholarship, competing both on the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. He graduated from NIU in 1965 with a BS in Chemistry.

He married Barbara J. Krainc in Waukegan on September 4, 1965. After the wedding, Nick and Barb moved to Pasadena, CA where he earned his PhD in Chemical Physics from Caltech in 1969. After postdoc positions at Battelle and NASA JPL, Nick and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he worked for 32 years as a computational physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He taught many classes as an adjunct professor of chemistry at CSU Hayward and UC Berkeley. He served as Head Coach of both the Track and Field and Cross Country teams at Livermore High School and Head Coach of Track and Field at Mission San Jose High School during the 1980s. An avid runner, he competed in many races including several marathons.

Survived by his wife, Barbara; his sons, Andrew (Sheila) Winter of Chapel Hill, NC and Nick (Allie) Winter of Forest Park; his granddaughter Alexa Winter; his sisters Nancy (Tom) Edwards and Janet Winter; many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by his parents; his sister, Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Winter and his brother, Daniel Winter.

Nick was a member of St. Bridget Catholic Church in Loves Park. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7. Nick’s family would like to thank the staff at Wesley Willows for their kind and compassionate care. Memorial donations can be made to Wesley Willows. https://www.wesleywillows.org/memorial-gifts

Private graveside services will be held later. Share online condolences at www.fitzgeraldfh.com.