Cancer claims life of Auburn minister Kenn Winkler, 58

Journal Staff WriterAt 58 years of age, Auburn minister Kenneth Edward Winkler lost his battle with cancer on Saturday. Winkler, best known as pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship, leaves behind his wife, Vickie, daughter, Shannon, and a community of friends. Born in 1945 in Inglewood, Calif., Winkler aspired to work with the CIA. He earned his bachelor?s degree in criminology from the University of California, Long Beach, but soon felt a call to the Christian ministry. He received a second degree in theology before becoming the dean of San Bernardino Bible College. Sue Dunigan, a college friend of Winkler?s, introduced the ?handsome, charming, kind? man to her sister, Vickie, and Kenn and Vickie later married in 1976. The couple served as missionaries to Africa where Kenn Winkler worked as dean of another Bible college. Out of their love for Africa, Vickie Winkler founded the Health Education for Africa Resource Team (HEART), which continues to send teams to Kenya to teach about health issues, particularly AIDS. She laughs as she describes the broken-down cars and treacherous roads they used travel in Africa. ?I have this image of Kenn with a sleeping bag under one arm and a Bible under the other and taking off on foot,? Vickie said of his adventurous trips around the countryside. ?He would never not show up to a scheduled meeting.?Kenn Winkler often paid his bills in person rather than use the faceless mail service. He liked to greet people and catch up on their lives, even if it was only once a month while waiting in line to pay a bill.Tryphena Conklin of Auburn remembers her friend as a ?real man of God.? She and her husband, Pastor Steve Conklin, have known the Winklers for about 15 years.?He knew the word, but he really lived it,? Tryphena Conklin said. His friends may remember him for his athletic build or ceaseless prayer, but his granddaughter, Nicole Baker of Auburn, will remember his greeting.?I?d kiss him on his cheek and then he?d kiss me on my forehead,? she said. ?That?s how we?ve always done it.?His sister-in-law, Dunigan, said that above all else, he was a praying man. He not only led his congregation in prayer, but led his life with it as well. He could often be found on bent knee in the early morning hours at his church. Vickie Winkler recalls Kenn?s comment when he found out how sick he was: ?We?re never going to ask why, we?re only going to ask how ? how we?re going to get through this to help others.?Winkler led services at Grace Christian Fellowship for 15 years, delivering his last sermon on Oct. 19, 2003. His message centered on what weighed most heavily on his mind in the final months of his life: Live each day as if you?re preparing to die.Ever ready to face what his illness may bring, Winkler took a moment to hide a letter to his wife, so she would find it after he died. In increasingly weak handwriting, he assured his wife: ?I feel the time of my departure is near at hand ? I must be going ... It?s been a pleasure to have been your husband these past short years, the Lord?s richer blessings will remain on you, my precious one, as you continue in his work.?Kenn Winkler is survived by his wife, Vickie; daughter, Shannon Baker; grandchildren Nichole and Buddy Baker; sister, Beverly Brown; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.A service will be held for Kenn at 1 p.m., Jan. 17, at Sierra Grace Fellowship, located at 1260 Wesley Lane in Auburn. Kenn requested that no flowers be sent, but rather donations be made to HEART to help with the cost of medical supplies.