Obituary of Sachi Wininger

Carol “Sachi” (Kobayashi) Wininger passed away Monday November 20, 2023. Carol was born to George “Susumu” and Martha “Masako” Kobayashi on December 23, 1941. She was the youngest of six children, and came into the world on her own terms. While on a trip to Baker, her mother went into labor at a family friend’s hotel apartment. Kuni Kurata and her teenage daughter, Horuyo “Hod” (Kurata) Koda, assisted with the labor while on the phone with hospital staff.

Growing up, her youngest memories were of living on a farm near Vale helping her mother garden. Coincidentally her biggest childhood complaints were also of farming and gardening. 

In 1960, she graduated from Payette High School.

She was married, for a time, to Jerry Neal Wininger (d. 2001). They had three children together.

After high school, Carol attended and graduated from the Sacred Heart Hospital School of Nursing in Spokane Washington, she was part of the 1963 graduating class. Carol spent fifty years caring for others as a nurse. Carol worked for a short time at the University of Washington Hospital before moving back to Idaho and getting married. After moving back to Idaho, Carol worked for Holy Rosary Medical Center. Her first day working for Holy Rosary she found herself attending Hod, who had helped her mother with Carol’s birth. Carol worked for Holy Rosary for a short time before transferring to the Tanaka Family Clinic. Carol worked for the family practice clinic until 1981, while her children were in grade school. Carol returned to work at Holy Rosary Medical Center, now St. Alphonsus, for many years as a Registered Nurse, before retiring in 2014. Carol was so dedicated to her work and family, her oldest granddaughter can recall hanging out in the OR lounge on several occasions while her grandma took call. 

Outside of work, she continued caring for those around her. Carol volunteered for many years at the Four Rivers Cultural Center, the Presbyterian Community Care Center, the Children’s Relief Nursery. She volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate as part of National CASA. Carol also regularly volunteered at the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple.

Carol loved traveling to visit family and friends. She loved doting on her grandkids and great-grandkids. Staying at grandma’s house always meant midnight snacks and waffles for breakfast. For the holidays she would make a large batch of sugar cookies for the entire family to frost and decorate together.

To visit Carol meant a guest would be sent home with some sort of food. She especially loved to send people home with dessert, guilting her guests by stating, “I can’t eat all of this by myself.” As a guest departed, Carol would always wave them off in the driveway.

She enjoyed staying busy. She spent a lot of her time gardening. She enjoyed taking exercise classes, walking the high school track or walking laps in the old Ontario Mall. 

In 2020, Carol was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia. Her empathy for other people can be seen even after her diagnosis, knowing she was “sick” she worried about the care of long gone family members. While living in a memory care center, she spent time worrying about other residents, even going as far as to help the nursing staff or make sure they were on task. 

She had three children; Jeffery “Jeff” Wininger (Jonie), Shari Wininger, and Nichole Wininger (Shawn); four granddaughters and three great-grandchildren. She is survived by two of her children, many nieces and nephews, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren, as well as Akiko Rucker and many other lifelong friends. She is preceded in death by her daughter Shari; parents Susumu and Masako; and siblings Haruko “Ethel” Tsukamaki, Kiyoko “Ruth” Tanaka, Toyoka “Grace” Shigeno, Masaaki “John” Kobayashi, and George Kobayashi, Jr.

A celebration of life will be held at the Four Rivers Cultural Center on Wednesday November 29th at 10 am in the Owyhee River Room, reception to follow. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Dementia Society of America (https://www.dementiasociety.org) or the Alzheimer's Association (https://alz.org).

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