Birth: 1940 Death: 2024 Ernie Lee Winsor, our wonderful, humorous, charming, warm family man and true friend, passed away peacefully on May 16, 2024, surrounded by his family at the Palo Alto VA Hospital after a fast and hard battle with pancreatic cancer. Ernie left this world better than he found it, sharing an abundance of love and joy and depth with the people in his life.Ernie was born on December 17, 1940, in Crawford, CO, the fourth of 14 children.
He grew up on a ranch outside of Crawford, running to school to beat the bus, cardboard in his shoes to fill the holes. Once, he used his belt to harness a horse to hitch a ride to school. Ernie milked cows every morning, bought his first car at age 12, drank water from a spring, and hunted deer and jackrabbits.
When Ernie would look back on his youth, he would say, “I never imagined a kid like me, who grew up on a ranch, would have such a great life. I’m the luckiest guy. I’ve got a wonderful family.
”Ernie joined the US Marine Corps to make a better life for himself, serving the majority of his time as a Military Police Officer overseas in the Philippines. He said that being in the Marine Corps was the first time in his life that he ate three meals a day. He grew four inches and gained 30 pounds, thanks to the USMC.
After the Marines, Ernie worked as an officer for the Westminster Police Department. A few years later, he signed onto the California Highway Patrol, which brought him to Santa Cruz and became the career .
