Obituary for Charles H. “One Step” Winters

Charles H. “One Step” Winters, passed to the creator on Monday, February 15, 2021.

He was born in Arlington Heights, IL on January 15, 1952, to the late Robert Earl Winters and Elsie Kreman-Winters.

He believed in the Native American ways. He knew how to do everything. He lived in Oklahoma and Arkansas for many years and was self-employed earlier in life.  Then he moved back to Wisconsin.  He was mostly known for his carpentry work, especially with red cedarwood.  He has gotten first place and best of show ribbons at woodcarvers shows.  He was a man who worked his whole life to get to where he was at now. He also was an airbrush artist who painted on motorcycles and vehicles and had gotten ribbons for those too.

After his art and craft shows he got into buck skinning, which is pre-1840’s rendezvous, where he met his wife Tammy of 29 years. They rendezvoused for 5 years together but he did several years before he met Tammy.  They built a log cabin on wheels and went all over the state and out to South Dakota 3 times, down to Illinois, and up to Michigan to demonstrate the life of a trapper who lived in the pre-1840s.  Then they had gotten their Belgium horses, Blue Girl and “the girls” Alice and Mandy.  He loved working with them and giving wagon and sleigh rides and doing parades. All this time he had Native American beliefs and met some very special Native American friends from Oneida.  He and Tammy were introduced to dancing traditionally at Powwows.  They were married traditionally at the Caroline rendezvous in October of ’96. His health started going downhill in 2014, starting with pneumonia and in the end, it was myasthenia gravis and COPD.

He is survived by his wife Tammy, his children Casey, Charlie, Wally, and Tye, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Wayne and sister Rose (Glen) Hager, his mother-in-law Grace Mullen, brothers-in-law John (Judy) Mullen, Joe (Dawn) Mullen, and Jim (Diane) Mullen, and sisters-in-law Lucy (Kelly) Burk and Cindy (Ken) Newmier. He also had lots of nieces and nephews and friends.

There will be a celebration of life later in the spring.

Condolences can be sent to Tammy Winters, 214465 County Road M, Stratford, WI 54484.