Obituary of Edward Wintermantel

Edward Wintermantel "Eddie" - Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Inventor and Counselor Edward Wintermantel, age 88, of 92 Maple Avenue, Allegany passed away peacefully on Saturday (March 10th, 2012) with his children by his side, after a sudden illness while wintering in Florida. Born August 1st, 1923 in Allegany, NY he was the son of the late Dr. Joseph Wintermantel and Jeanette Waldorf Wintermantel. He married Marjorie Kerns of Olean, NY on June 7th, 1947 at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Olean. He was predeceased by his wife on July 31st, 2010, an infant son, John and his sister, Elizabeth Tripodi. He lived an active, adventurous, and industrious life full of love for his family and friends to the very end. In his retirement, he had been enjoying his time with his many friends locally and in Plant City, Florida. He was known for riding his bike, golfing, playing pool and singing in the men's choir. After his graduation from Allegany High School in 1941, he continued his education at St Bonaventure University until it was interrupted by his service to his country. Serving as an army medic and engineer with secret government clearance in WWII, he helped set up the first Allied hospital following D-Day and designed bridges with the Heavy Engineering Group. He resumed his education in engineering and pre-med at St. Bonaventure University upon his discharge. He was plant manager for Precision Ceramics, Inc. in Franklinville and Aerovox in Olean as well as Product Manager at Conap. In 1960 he started his own company, Winter Manufacturing, where he designed, engineered and built automated machinery for the electronics industry. His machines were instrumental in the assembly of the first mass-produced transistors and capacitors for Sylvania and Fairchild. His company designed and built what was, at the time, one of the largest kilns in the world in North Carolina for mass-curing of ceramic capacitors. He and his partners went on to produce inventive solutions, ranging from the manufacture of feathered arrows to unique components for the aerospace industry, some of which were part of the Apollo moon landings. For 25 years until his retirement, he was a Veterans counselor for the New York State Division of Veterans affairs. For 10 of those years he assumed the duties of Veterans counselor for Cattaraugus County concurrent with his NYS duties, and did so without salary. During this time, along with his partner Jack Hickey of Olean, he invented and perfected a silicone injected pad for relief of paralyzed and bedridden Vets, giving the formula away to the Veterans Administration. Such was the nature of his selfless character. He will be remembered by thousands of kids for building Twin Springs, a large in-ground pool and lodge, constructed in the hills of the West Branch Road, along with a handful of friends. Each year his family was surprised to learn more and more tales of the heroism of this humble man. Even as a teenager, he saved the lives of accident victims with skills he learned from his parents-- his father a doctor and his mother a nurse. He often drove his father out into the night in all weather, long before Allegany had ambulance service. He will be sorely missed by his children, Daniel (Leslie) Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, PA, Peter (Barbara) Wintermantel of Allegany, NY, Prim (Rick) Rennick of Dallas, TX and Mikel (Cheryl) Wintermantel of Allegany, NY and a daughter-in-law Edna Wintermantel of Allegany, NY. His affection for his 14 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren is unmatched. His inventive skill for repair and reuse is legendary among his family and friends. Teaching his family to sew, knit, bake, bike, ski, sail, design, weld, mill, solder, invest, heal, give, laugh and love, among countless other life skills, will live on just as he planned. Friends will be received at the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home 3128 W. State Rd. Olean on Thursday from 2-4 & 7-9pm. Funeral services will be held Friday (March 16, 2012) beginning with a prayer service at the funeral home at 10:30am followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00am in St. Bonaventure Church. Rev. James Vacco, OFM, pastor, will be the celebrant. Entombment will be in St. Bonaventure Cemetery. Memorials, if desired, may be made to the St. Bonaventure Church, Allegany, NY, the St. Clements Church, 1104 N. Alexander Street, Plant City FL 33563 or to the Allegany Fire Dept. PO Box 95, Allegany, NY 14706.