I am saddened to report the death of our good friend Margaret Dingler Winkles on December 13, 2005. What can I say about Margaret? I first met Margaret in 1979. I was working on the Dingler genealogy and had sent letters to random Dingler addresses in Georgia. One of these letters was forwarded on to Margaret. Before long, she was on the road to Texas to see about these new cousins.

It was Margaret’s idea to have a family reunion. Frankly, I was skeptical at the time. We planned it for Vicksburg in the summer of 1980 and hoped for the best. The rest, as they say, is history. I grew to love Margaret and her family. And beyond that, I learned to appreciate her determination, her plain-spoken manner, her fierce love of family, and for lack of a better word, her just plain grit in the face of tragedies that would have crushed anyone else. Finally, it was Margaret’s insistence on having the first reunion that set in motion the chain of events that has allowed me to come to know all you wonderful people. Thank you, Margaret. We’ll not forget you.

by Terry Cowan