Leadership Thought: Dick Winters, a Man I Will Never Forget

Dear Friends,

This past week one of my closest friends passed away. At 95 Dick Winters led a long and productive life, and he is now wonderfully reunited with Ellie, his wife, who passed away a number of years ago. Dick would always sign his cards “Dick, and Ellie from heaven.”

Dick was the most unusual friend I have ever known, and I was blessed to have spent the last 15 years of my life with him.

Dick came to faith late in life in his 70’s, and since that decision he did his best to make up for lost time by learning, growing and finding different ways to serve Jesus.

There were 15 different organizations in which he was involved, and many of them he served as president.

Only a few days before he died, while he was still in the hospital, he hosted a zoom meeting for the church trustees to discuss some important building decisions.

He was in a Bible Study with me, and we spent a lot of time together during the last few years of his life talking about faith and church related issues.

Each year for the past three years, he and I would make a pilgrimage by car-he always drove-to Pittsburgh and Cleveland where we would see his beloved Pittsburgh Pirates play and then to Cleveland to watch my team, the Indians (Guardians).

Dick and I were polar opposites- in fact we were called the odd couple because we were so different- but in spite of our great differences we were the closest of friends.

His technological skills were seriously lacking , and he would probably be the only person who would ever travel with me who would know less about technology than I did. He always had a giant map with him whenever he drove, and He often confused GPS, which he knew nothing about, with UPS which gives you some understanding of his technology limitations.

Dick never went to college, but through hard work and dedication, he worked his way up to became vice president of Hess Brothers, one of the largest road construction companies in NJ, employing over 300 employees.

He was a hard man to keep up with. Rising at 2:30 am, he would be in the office to start work by 4:30 am, and after working a long day, he would always find some organizational responsibility that needed to be done once he arrived home.

His 21 file cabinets were filled with information that was important to him, and which he frequently visited.

On top of his work, he found time to become a World War  2 historian, serve as president for over 20 years of his annual high school reunion committee,  while also finding time to learn how to play the organ. You get the picture. Dick didn’t let any grass grow under his feet.

Once retired, I watched Dick grow in his faith as he eagerly learned more and more about Jesus.

In those years since he came to know Him, he began building his spiritual legacy. He started reading and studying the Bible. He joined a small group Bible study. He headed up the committee responsible for the building of our beautiful gymnasium and family Ministry Center. He was a faithful member of our Trustee Board, and he seldom ever missed church or a church meeting.

Why do I write this about Dick. It is to point out that one is never too old to start building his/her legacy.

How did he do this? He did it by living intentionally, by living with a purpose. Most people don’t lead their life, they accept it, and because of it, they never reach their full potential. They get stuck in a rut, and unfortunately, they eventually give up trying to dig out of it.

Dick knew if he was going to leave a legacy, he had to transform his good intentions into good actions. He realized that one of the greatest gaps in life is the gap between good intentions and good actions, between sounding good and doing good.

Dick knew that one could never be too old to become what he wanted to be, and he set about learning and doing those things that would help him become what he wanted to be before Jesus called him home.

To build a legacy, we must be intentional. The best way to improve our life is to live it intentionally, turning dreaming into doing, and desire into action, doing things today and not someday. There is no time for procrastination in the life of for the one who wants to make a difference, and who wants to leave behind a legacy.

Dick was a front-end thinker. Often the difference between successful and unsuccessful people is front- end thinking. Front- end thinking involves planning and anticipating. and thinking about tomorrow. Front-end thinkers are out in front of the problems, anticipating them and not just reacting to them.

Dick’s goal in life was to make every day a masterpiece, and masterpieces don’t just happen; they are the result of intentional and prayerful planning and preparation

Dick knew that growth was not automatic, that you don’t automatically become better. We automatically become older, but we never automatically become better unless we are intentional about doing those things that will make us better.

Dick knew that the only way his future was going to be better was for him to grow and be better today, so he spent much of his time learning new things that would make him more valuable and more productive, and which would help make each day better for others.

Dick was all about trying to find ways to improve his life own life, so he could help improve the lives of others.

He knew that the only guarantee that tomorrow would be better than today was to make each day better than his yesterday.

I will never forget Dick’s relentless optimism. Even when he was in severe pain and one would ask him how he was doing, his response was always “better than I deserve.”

May you rest in peace my dear friend as you enjoy your new life with Ellie and Jesus. You will never be forgotten.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom