Winifred van Roden

Winifred Lane van Roden, 67, of New York City, died on June 6, 2021 after a long battle with bronchiectasis. Born in Bryn Mawr, PA on September 22, 1953, Winifred was the daughter of Amy McKay Biddle and the late Donald van Roden. She attended the Shipley School and graduated in 1977 from Wesleyan University with a BA in English. In 1979, three years into her companionship with future husband John Williams, she received a call from her friend Michael Hamburger, inviting the couple to move to NYC. Winifred accepted in an instant, and she and John lived in two apartments on the Upper West Side for the next 42 years.

Winifred had two lengthy careers, as a production manager for Randem Printing Company, and as an interior designer at American Design Company and William McIntosh Design. While working full time, she also completed an AAS in Graphic Design at Parsons in 2011. Her beautiful art projects, fun homemade cards, creative gifts, and doodles are cherished by family and friends. She grew up vacationing at the Forest Lake Club in Hawley, PA and eventually joined and built a cottage there. She was an avid hiker, bird-watcher, environmentalist, and boater, as well as a voracious reader. She was a jazz lover and a ruthlessly honest supporter-critic of her husband's music, which he appreciated.

Throughout her difficult illness, Winifred presented herself in her best light, and maintained an ever-present interest in everyone else's story and a gratitude for the good life she had led. If she had a major shortcoming, it was that she never fully understood how beloved she was.

Winifred is survived by husband John, daughter Frances Williams and future son-in-law Angus Page; siblings Peter van Roden (Lisa van Roden) and Julia van Roden (Gerard Staudt); nieces Elizabeth Lerman, Caroline Toedtman Brant, Carrie Steele, Hannah Illencik, Madeleine Williams, and Heidi Rose Williams; and nephews Henry van Roden, Macaulay Lerman, Charles van Roden, James Toedtman, and Aaron Steele. She is also survived by four step-siblings: James Davis, Susan Mikulak, Sophie Biddle Hakim, and Scott Biddle.

John and Frances are eternally grateful to the dedicated efforts of the doctors and nurses at Columbia University Medical Center, and most especially to Dr. Angela DiMango. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the American Lung Association.