Barbara Jo Winter, 85, Rockford, a resident of Wesley Willows Health Center, passed away on the evening of Sunday, February 15, 2026. She was born December 19, 1940 in Waukegan, Illinois, the daughter of John and Albena (Bartel) Krainc. She was the oldest of five siblings. She attended Waukegan Township High School, where she was the salutatorian of her graduating class of 1958. She continued her studies at Northern Illinois University, majoring in Chemistry based on encouragement from her father. She graduated from NIU in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. After working in industry for a short time she went back to earn her Master of Science in Chemistry, becoming the first woman to graduate from the newly established Master’s in Chemistry program at NIU in 1965. Her Master’s thesis yielded two publications on the synthesis of inorganic compounds. She also served as a Teaching Assistant for various chemistry laboratory courses. After graduation, she went on to work at Morton Chemical Company as a Technical Librarian.

She married Nicholas Wilhelm Winter in Waukegan on September 4, 1965. After the wedding, Nick and Barb moved to Pasadena, California where she worked as a Laboratory Technician for the Biology Division at the California Institute of Technology. Their first son, Andrew, was born in 1973. In 1975 the family moved to Fremont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. The family expanded with the birth of their second son, Nick, in 1979. Barb was a wonderful, loving, supportive, and devoted mother. Barb volunteered at her children’s schools, helping in the classroom, the library, and with yard duty. Later she began working as a substitute librarian which ultimately led to her job as permanent librarian at Vallejo Mill School, where she worked for 20 years.

Barb enjoyed cooking, baking, and gardening. She was able to grow beautiful roses, camellias, and azaleas year-round in the mild California climate. She always did a great job arranging and preparing for wonderful family camping trips in California and cross-country adventures to visit family in Illinois.

Survived by her sons, Andrew (Sheila) Winter of Chapel Hill, NC and Nick (Allie) Winter of Forest Park, IL; her granddaughter Alexa Winter; her sisters Nancy (Clark) O’Halloran and Audrey Krainc; her brothers John T. (Elizabeth) Krainc and James (Cynthia) Krainc; many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by her parents and her husband, Nicholas Winter.

Barbara’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.