- Date Of Birth: May 21, 1917
- Date Of Death: January 21, 2014
- State: Georgia
Nancy Alberta Allen Winkles, 96, from Newnan and formerly from East Point, died Jan. 21, 2014 at Piedmont Newnan Hospital. She was born May 21, 1917, in Los Angeles, California. While an infant, her family moved to North Carolina. She grew up on the family farm near Catawba.
At an early age, she began playing familiar hymns on her grandfather’s pump organ. By the age of twelve, she was playing for church services, arriving by horse-drawn buggy. Music was always an important part of her life. She taught herself the basics of music by reading and studying an old Shaped Notes music book that belonged to her grandfather, James Washington Abernathy. She continued to play for churches well into her eighties.
She moved to East Point, Georgia, in 1931, and attended Russell High School. She met and married Raleigh Anderson Winkles in 1937. They were married for almost 67 years, until Raleigh died in 2004. During their marriage, she sang in Joe Mayten’s East Point Choral Society and served as pianist/organist at East Point Second Baptist Church, Dogwood Hills Baptist Church, and Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
In 1983 they moved to Newnan, Georgia and joined Unity Baptist Church, where she briefly served as pianist/organist and was a member of the Dorcas Sunday School Class. She enjoyed her family, gardening, and watching the Atlanta Braves. She was a member of Eastern Star.
Mrs. Winkles was descended from the Allen/Abernathy families, who first arrived in America from Scotland in the early 1700s. She is a direct descendent of John Wallis, who fought in the Revolutionary War, and of Julius Lail, who fought in the War Between The States.
Mrs. Winkles was predeceased by her parents James Edgar and Manie Justina Abernathy Allen, seven siblings, her husband, Raleigh Anderson Winkles, and a daughter, Sandra Carol Winkles Fox.
She is survived by two daughters, Gail Winkles Rainwater of Newnan, and Linda Winkles McMillan (Thomas) of Statesboro; five graddaughters, Emily Smith (Dennis Hammer) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Valerie Smith of Tucker, Cathy Craft (Terry) of LaGrange, Deborah Kopf (Steve) of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, and Kate Brannen (Richard) of Statesboro. She is also survived by seven great-grandchildren.
