Winifred (Winkie) Natalie Forbes Boomershine

Join the family in celebrating the life of a wonderful wife and mother. Winifred (Winkie) Natalie Forbes Boomershine was born in Atlanta on April 24, 1929. She passed away on Saturday, March 25, 2017 in Gainesville, Georgia, surrounded by her loving family and her sweetheart of seventy years, Walter McKinley Boomershine, Jr.

Although her nickname was “Winkie”, her given name of Winifred denotes power and strength, which was so appropriate for this strong but petite “Southern Belle”. Throughout her life, she never met a stranger, as she greeted everyone with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.

A strong, independent woman; she loved adventure. After their marriage, she traveled to France alone by ship to join to her husband Walter while he served in the United States Air Force. It was there that she lived out an act of heroism. After her water bag broke, she was sent from the army base hospital in France to travel alone as the only woman on the troop train, to a hospital in Germany to give birth to their first born.

Winkie was the true matriarch of the family. She was Walter’s best friend, partner and encourager as he worked hard to become a successful automobile dealer in Atlanta. She bore four girls with love and waited patiently into her forties to produce their fifth child, a son. A true test of her faith came in later years as she and Walter endured the unfortunate death of her first born child, Lindsay. This Christian faith that she and Lindsay shared will live on forever through her family.

Winkie was a wonderful housewife and mother, with perfection her driving goal. She ran the home with a firm hand but with a love ever present. She rarely took time for herself except for her hair salon appointments; Winkie maintained the same hairstyle for over 50 years. A hair was never out of place, even while doing her beloved yard work! While raising her children, she discovered a love of tennis. ALTA was truly the one thing she did for herself, playing well into her 60’s. She loved to have friends come to their home for morning tennis games, and then she would hop on the Grasshopper mower and manicure her beautiful landscape.

Winkie loved children and they loved her. She adored her job as a volunteer at Northside and St. Joseph’s Hospitals in the pediatric, labor and delivery areas. She and Walter opened their home to students from all over the world who traveled or studied in America. She was the always present cheerleader for her children’s games, plays and recitals. She was troop leader for Campfire, Brownies and Boy Scouts. She volunteered for Vacation Bible School and countless other activities in support of her children.

She loved her Lord and loved to sing. She had a beautiful voice and was always in the church choir at Morningside and Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Easter and Christmas were especially joyful times for her while singing two of her favorites, The Messiah and Brahms Requiem.

As the name Winifred would denote, she was a fighter. She conquered breast cancer with a quiet confidence and peaceful strength, both of which she derived from her ever present faith. She brought sunshine into every room she entered. Her gregarious nature, precocious smile, and love of her family were forever present. The greatest gift she leaves is the love of Our Lord and Savior, which she and Walter instilled in each of her children.

She was preceded in death by her first born, Lindsay Boomershine Robertson. She leaves behind her husband of 66 years, Walter McKinley Boomershine, Jr., and her children: Renee Jochum (Jim), Jackie Thompson (Randy), Pat Mitchell (Dirk), Mark Boomershine (Cinda Koets), grandchildren: Katie Robertson Sanders (Jason), Heather Thompson Pullen (Randy), Belle and Rex Boomershine; great grandchildren: Ralph Sanders and Madeline Pullen.

Visitation will be Thursday, March 30 at 9 a.m. at Memorial Park Funeral Home in Gainesville, Georgia. A celebration of life service will be held in the chapel at 10 a.m. to be officiated by the Reverend Paul Evans and Dr. Tom Smiley. A private family interment service will be held at Arlington Cemetery in Atlanta later that afternoon.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to The Georgia Mountain Food Bank and or Good News Clinics of Gainesville, Georgia.

Memorial Park Funeral Home, 2030 Memorial Park Road, Gainesville, GA  30504 is in charge of arrangements.

Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com