Herbert Winthrop

Winthrop, Herbert
August 25, 1916 - August 14, 2011
Herbert Winthrop passed away peacefully on August 14th in Los Angeles just before his 95th birthday. His story began on August 25th, 1916 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the son of Louis Winthrop and Annette Friedman and he had one sister, Charlotte.
Herbert, better known as Bert, attended the University of Washington before entering the Navy during WW II. He served in Brazil as a Radioman First Class. Bert married Kathleen Foley, a corporal in the U.S. Marines, in Bethesda, Maryland. They were together for more than 50 years before Kathleen passed away in Scottsdale, Az. in 1994.
Bert was a spectacular portrait artist and a first generation space artist for North American Rockwell. He played an integral role in the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs and his art was broadcast around the world when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Bert created the contract proposal cover to build the Space Shuttle and was the first to depict the spacecraft in the popular press on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. His many works were exhibited in national galleries, publications, newspapers, and magazines. Along with a deep appreciation for art, Bert was a voracious reader of philosophy and law, with a keen interest in politics. In his later years his letters regularly appeared in the New York Times.
Bert and his wife Kay, both accomplished golfers, enjoyed playing together in Arizona and California. Even at age 90, he shot three consecutive birdies on the Veterans Course in Los Angeles. He also loved the music of George Gershwin and Cole Porter and did great impersonations of Al Jolson for his family. Dad we will miss your beautiful, spontaneous singing and amazing writing. We love you very much!
Bert is survived by his son Loring, a physician in Salem, Oregon and his wife Margaret; and his daughter Mary Manross, the former mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona and her husband Larry; Bert was very close to his seven grandchildren, John, Dan , Mike, Heather, Kevin, Matt and Amy. He is also survived by seven great-grandchildren, Claire, Bridget, Nolan, Piper, Reese, Lena and Nora; sister-in-law Carol Lewis, sister-in-law Marge Shields, brother-in-law Jack Fink, many nieces and nephews and two aunts, Terry Freeman and Shirley Vaughn.