James Winner

— James Walter New London Winner, affectionately known as “Jim” or “Jimmo,” of New London, passed on Feb. 28, 2024, at age 90. Jim was born Nov. 15, 1933 in Lockport, N.Y., to the late Niles McKinley Winner and Florence Lillian Winner (maiden name Culverwell). His brother was Richard “Dick” Winner. He attended secondary school at Fair Lawn High School in Fairlawn, N.J. At age 16, Jim and a friend rode their bicycles from Fairlawn, N.J. to Sherbrooke, Quebec. Their roundtrip tour was 1,000 miles and took 18 days to complete, staying in American Youth Hostels along the way. He later took community college courses in philosophy, Spanish, sociology and journalism and completed the Woodbury Associates Paralegal Training Program. Courses he completed are administrative law, civil procedure, interviewing, investigation, advocacy, wills, trusts and estate, family law, and more. He worked as a paralegal at the Vermont Governor’s Office for the Administration of Justice, and then at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. Jim also worked as a truck driver, refrigeration technician, auto mobile mechanic, printer’s assistant, and with the Merchant Marines. An avid traveler, in 1959, he drove his Renault from New York to the tip of South America, then to California to visit family. He also traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Central America. He was a prolific reader who also studied languages. Jim was possessed of a keen wit and unique personal perspective on life and the vicissitudes of contemporary society.

In 1968, he married Felicita Morales in México. They adopted their daughter Martha Winner Morales that same year in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Felicita and Jim later divorced in 1984. In 1984, Jim and artist and professor Imna Arroyo welcomed son, James Nicholas “Nicko” Winner-Arroyo on Aug. 4, 1984. He and Imna married June 7, 1985.

Jim is survived by his wife Imna; son Nicko; daughter Martha; stepdaughters, Isis Mattei and Swahili Henry; grandsons: Robert Winner, William Winner, Stephen Winner, Jeremy Winner, Alexander Winner, Arthur Cockett, Aiden Francisco Cockett and Nicko Inti Winner Novak; granddaughters, Alicia Cockett and Casie Marie Henry; great-grandchildren: Cindy Winner Sanchez, Stephen Junior Winner Sanchez, Jeremy Winner and Hazli Winner; and nephews and nieces: Richard “Rick” Winner, Susan Winner, Walter Winner and Sibyl Murray. The Day assumes no responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate information. The Day reserves the right to revise, edit or reject information proven to be false or misleading. The Day assumes no financial responsibility for non-publication or for typographical errors, but will reprint that part of an ad in which an error occurs if it seriously alters the meaning or effect of the ad.