Richard Winstead

Richard L. Winstead passed away on Thursday, June 19th 2025 in Fort Smith, AR. He was born on October 1, 1941 in Danville, VA to the late Keith and Thelma Winstead. He is survived by his loving wife, Jo Ann of 42 years, four children, five grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and a sister, Beth Winstead Gentry of Danville. His children are Michael Winstead of Lynchburg, VA; Meredith Penninger and her husband Paul of Lexington, NC; Andrew Winstead and his partner Rebecca Heilman of New Orleans, LA; and Preston Winstead and his wife Caitlyn Campbell of Chicago, IL.
Richard grew up in Danville, VA. He graduated from George Washington High School in 1960 where he excelled in both football and baseball. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on August 10th, 1960, and received training in Statistics and Data Processing. He served as Assistant to the base Comptroller while stationed in Okinawa, Japan and was an IBM unit record operator and shift supervisor. Upon returning to the States, Richard was stationed at Hq. MATS at Scott AFB, IL where he continued his education in computers, serving as a Statistical Analyst.
After his service with the USAF, Richard joined the Lane Company in Altavista, VA as a shift supervisor training shift personnel in machine and computer operations. He studied computer programming at the IBM Education Center in Washington, D.C. in the age of coding card catalogues and computers the size of a room. Advancing from Programmer to Systems Analyst, he was ultimately named Data Processing Supervisor. When an opportunity arose for Richard to move into the Sales Department, he became a Customer Service Manager, going on the road as a Lane sales representative for the Metro Philadelphia territory, the Eastern Pennsylvania Territory, and the Metro Cleveland Territory. After spending six years on the road and earning two Distinguished Sales Achiever Awards, Richard was named Sales Manager of the Midwest Region. He led the region to record sales and was the only sales manager to be recognized as a Distinguished Sales Achiever Award in Lane's history.
While in Altavista, Richard was active in the local Jaycee chapter in community service. He was a local President, a regional chairman for three years, and a State Chairman. He received many local, regional, state, and national awards for his service. In 1972, Richard was named a Life Member of the Virginia Jaycees.
Richard left Lane in 1986 to join Universal Furniture in Grand Prairie, TX. He was called back to the corporate office for Universal in High Point, NC as VP Sales. In 1993, Richard was named Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing for Lea Industries in High Point. In 1995, Richard accepted the job as VP of Sales, National Sales Manager for Riverside Furniture in Fort Smith, AR where he worked for 13 years before his retirement in 2007 after 43 years in the furniture industry. He left the industry with many fond memories of the wonderful people with whom he worked, the customers he served, and great sales teams.
Richard will always be remembered for his quick wit, well timed jokes, and generous laughter. He was an avid reader, green thumb gardener, decent golfer, crossword expert, adoring cat dad, insightful nicknamer, and experienced traveler who visited all fifty states and several foreign countries.
Memorial services will be held at First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, June 21st at 1:00pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Richard's name to the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org), the Jimmy V. Foundation for Cancer Research (www.v.org), First Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith (www.1pres.org), or the Nantz National Alzheimer Center (www.houstonmethodist.org/neurology/centers-and-programs/nantz-national-alzheimer-center).