Kathleen Marie (McKenna) Winter, a talented painter, former longtime Chestnut Hill resident, devout Catholic and spiritual support for many friends and family members, died peacefully on June 9 at age 91 with her family by her side.
Winter was born April 21, 1935, in Philadelphia, to Edward and Marie McKenna. While attending West Catholic High School for Girls, she earned a full scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she met the love of her life, sculptor Joseph Winter. They married in 1956, and together they continued to build deep friendships with a close circle of classmates from the Academy all throughout their life. He predeceased her in 2020 after 64 years of marriage.
In 1962, the couple moved to Chestnut Hill upon the glowing recommendations Winter received about Our Mother of Consolation (OMC) parish and school, where she enrolled her children. Once the children were in school, she took the train into town to complete her classwork for her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
Winter’s daughter, Kathleen, told the Local last week, “My mother was a beautiful person who found the good in everyone she met. She delighted in meeting new people, beginning almost every new conversation with ‘Tell me about yourself.’ What’s standing out for me the most about her is her enduring optimism and her adventurous spirit as she embraced a move across the state to Pittsburgh at the age of 88 to live with my husband and me and help care for her great-granddaughters. She is greatly missed by her family and a large circle of friends.”
Mary Cassidy, the OMC church secretary who knew Winter for several decades, told the Local, “In addition to being a wonderfully gifted artist, Kathy was a rare soul who balanced deep devotion with a joyful, humorous spirit. Her faith was the anchor of her life, yet she always possessed a perceptive mind and incredibly loving heart that made everyone feel seen and cherished. Our friendship proved that a deep soul connection knows no age limit.”
Joseph and Kathleen Winter met in the fall of 1953, when they were both beginning their first year of a fine arts degree program run through a partnership of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and the University of Pennsylvania. He was a native of Ohio who, with a father who was a physician for the U.S. Navy, bounced around the country as a child. She grew up in Williamsburg, Va., in a magical window of time after the town’s historic buildings had been restored but before they were roped off or inundated with tourists.
When they arrived at PAFA for their fine art prerequisites, they were members of a diverse group. Some students were fresh from high school while others had trained for years. Others came from France, Ivory Coast or China, like Kathleen Winter’s lifelong best friend, Phoebe Shih, of Flourtown, with whom she has studied Chinese brush painting. Still more were soldiers from World War II studying on the GI Bill. Winter later took more art classes at Chestnut Hill College and Temple University.
“We all became very fast friends,” Winter told the Local in an earlier interview. In fact, they were so friendly that she and her husband were one of 14 married couples to come from that group.
Also a longtime art teacher — at Villa St. Joseph in Flourtown and Our Mother of Consolation School in Chestnut Hill — Winter exhibited her work at New York’s Knickerbocker Art Exhibition, Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mt. Airy, Springfield Residence in Wyndmoor, Woodmere Art Museum and many others. “The best thing is that you don’t have to retire from making art,” she said.
Genienne Navarro, one of Winter’s three children, told the Local, “They really were special, and Joe and Kathy and I know how incredibly lucky we have been to grow up with their unique essence. They are deeply, deeply missed.”
Sandra Collins, a good friend, said, “We spent vacations at the shore together with Joe and Kathy, and the children are good friends. My son Chris is Joe’s godson and also a sculptor. … I miss Kathy very much. We talked often, and I always considered her one of my best friends.”
In her late 80s, Winter wrote and published a children’s book, based on a sculpture that her husband created for Delancey Street Park in Center City, later renamed Three Bears Park after his iconic sculpture. The book, “How the Bears Got to the Park,” illustrated by Joseph Winter, follows the bear family through historical landmarks in Philadelphia, culminating in the bears’ arrival to the park at 319 Delancey St. in Society Hill, where his life-sized sculpture of three bears has been enjoyed by children since its installation in 1966.
For 60-plus years, Kathleen Winter was a devoted member of Our Mother of Consolation parish, where she also taught for several years. In addition to her art, which she continued until shortly before her death, she enjoyed playing the piano and spending time with her family.
She is survived by her children Kathleen (Henry), Joseph (Katherine), and Genienne (Tony), as well as six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She will be remembered by those who enjoyed her friendship, spiritual support, listening ear, humor, deep caring, generosity and undaunted optimism.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, 11 a.m., at Our Mother of Consolation Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Kathleen Winter’s name to Our Mother of Consolation Church & School.
Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
