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Richard D. 'Dick' Wintermote 1926 - 2011 Lawrence
Funeral services for Richard D. “Dick” Wintermote, 85, Lawrence, will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, with the Rev. Dr. Peter Luckey officiating. Private burial will be later in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. Wintermote died Monday, Dec. 19, 2011, at Brandon Woods at Alvamar.
He was born July 10, 1926, in Augusta, the son of John W. Sr. and Ruth Clouse Wintermote. He graduated from Augusta High School.
Following his graduation, Mr. Wintermote enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served 18 months (1944-1946) on New Hebredes and New Caledonia Islands in the South Pacific.
Following his service to the country in 1946, Mr. Wintermote came to Lawrence to attend Kansas University. He graduated from KU in 1951. While at KU, he was a cheerleader for the 1948 Orange Bowl in Miami.
Mr. Wintermote was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Until his death, he continued supporting the fraternity. The fraternity honored him in 1982 as the Distinguished Alumnus of the Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon (part of the inaugural class). From 1992 to 1995, he helped raise $2.1 million, and he was actively involved in the $3 million renovation of the Kansas DU chapter house. In 2010, he was recognized as the inaugural recipient of the Dick Wintermote Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was the retired executive director of the KU Alumni Association from 1963 to 1983.
Mr. Wintermote was an assistant, field or associate director of the KU Alumni Association from September 1951 to July 1963, at which time he was named executive director and secretary-treasurer. He retired from those positions July 1, 1983, after 32 years with the association — 20 years as the chief operating officer. Mr. Wintermote then was asked to manage long-range planning for both the KU Alumni Association and the KU Endowment Association, and it was from those studies that the Campaign Kansas was born.
Under his leadership, the Alumni Association was named national champion and received “The Alumni Administration Award for Comprehensive Excellence” in 1972; won the Time-Life “Best Direct Mail Campaign of the Year” in 1971; and received National Citations for Merit in 1974 and 1975 for “New and Innovative Alumni Programming,” “Alumni Records Management” and the Kansas Honor Student Program. The Alumni Association’s Kansas Alumni Magazine was named “Best in the Nation” in 1983 and had been regularly recognized on district and national levels for overall excellence for many years. Mr. Wintermote was a frequent speaker at district and national conferences of the American Alumni Council and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and at two International Business Machine “Higher Education Executive Conferences.” He served as an alumni association consultant to the president of the University of Arizona and to the Alumni Association of the University of Colorado at Boulder. One of his proudest accomplishments was being involved in the planning of the K.S. “Boots” Adams Alumni Center and his role in its planning, starting in 1979; the campaign that raised more than $6 million in private funds and monies for its endowment. It was opened Aug. 22, 1983.
In 1982, Mr. Wintermote was designated as a Distinguished KU Alumni, and in 1989, he was the recipient of the Fred Ellsworth Medallion. In 2008, he served as president of the Gold Medal Club at KU.
In 2007, the KU Alumni Association created the Dick Wintermote Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award to honor Mr. Wintermote, who dedicated his career to building relationships with KU alumni, and his renowned personal letters earned him admiration and a lasting legacy.
He married Barbara Jean Fletcher on Dec. 28, 1950, in Kansas City, Mo. She preceded him in death May 8, 2011.
Survivors include a daughter, Terry W. Preston, Lawrence; a son, Mark F., Glendale, Ariz.; four grandchildren; Matthew F. Preston, Katherine A. Preston, Ben F. Wintermote and Zachary C. Wintermote; and a great-grandson, Jackson F. Wintermote.
The family suggests memorials to the KU Alumni Association for an internship honor program to be developed in his name or to the Kansas Delta Upsilon Educational Foundation, sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS 66044.
Condolences may be sent online at warrenmcelwain.com or mailed to 4805 Brandon Woods Terrace, Lawrence, KS 66047.
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