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Kenneth "Ken" Winders Jr. was born on February 21, 1951, to Kenneth and Clara Lee (Casey) Winders in Oklahoma City. He passed on January 23, 2023, after a lengthy illness while at home surrounded by his loving family. Ken graduated from Midwest City High School in 1969. He spent a brief semester at OU before entering the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union. He worked for Streets Mechanical, and Matherly Mechanical then started his own plumbing business in 1983. He built a strong professional reputation as one of the premier plumbing contractors in the OKC community, including extensive work at South Community and Midwest Regional Hospitals, multiple doctor offices, and health clinics. He invented and sold a plumbing-related patent and then co-founded a heated floor business, Oklahoma Radiant Floors. He retired at 65 years old but never slowed down. Ken's hobbies included creating homemade projects, especially for his family. His most coveted project was building his 1923 T-Bucket Roadster, which he entered into NSRA Car Shows and used as the get-away car in multiple family weddings. Over the years, he loved working on his classic cars. Most recently, his 1966 Chevy C-10 Truck, named Lucy, won the Player's Pick in the Choctaw High School Baseball car show. He turned his backyard into a family theme park, including a zip-line, putting green, treehouse, pool with cabana, and a go-cart race track. He was a member and volunteer at Choctaw Road Baptist Church and enjoyed volunteering with the EOC Resource Center. He welcomed his first daughter, Kelly in 1975, then four years later his second daughter, Jamie. He met and later married Teresa Haynes and their family grew with her two sons Patrick and Zac Chase in 2001. Together they enjoyed Monday night dinners, Lake Eufaula trips, OU football games, cruising in his classic cars, attending car shows, and summer nights in their backyard. His proudest accomplishment was earning the title "Papa" from his grandkids. He was preceded in death by his dad, Kenneth Winders Sr., and his in-laws Freddie and Betty Haynes. He is survived by his mom, Clara Lee Winders, wife, Teresa, sister Connie (husband Jim Anderson), brother Curtis Winders (wife Marvenia); Aunt Dorothy, his daughter, Kelly (husband Chuck Curry), daughter Jamie (husband Brandon Ersteniuk); son Patrick Chase (wife Amy); son Zac Chase (wife Megan); grandkids Clay, Gracie, Breanna, and Brooke Curry; Jaxon, Josie and Barrett Ersteniuk; Madalyn and Emma Chase; Kensley and Hadley Chase, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. The family would like to give special thanks to Manoi at Frontier Hospice and Elisha his physical therapist at Select Specialty Hospital. They would also like to thank their church family at CRBC for their constant prayers and support. Visitation will be held at Barnes Friederich Funeral Home on Friday, January 27, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with family visitation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A Celebration of his life will be on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Choctaw Road Baptist Church with visitation of family and friends following. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Eastern Oklahoma County Resource Center at www.eocrc.org or the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. |
