Ernest Alan Windhorst, 90, Minneapolis, died peacefully on November 13, 2017, in the presence of his children, at the Ottawa County Health Center in Minneapolis, Kansas.
Alan was born on September 6, 1927 at the Windhorst family ranch near Wells, Kansas to Edna Lavina (Allen) Windhorst and Ernest Albert Windhorst. He was the second of Ernest and Edna’s two children, growing up with an older sister, Norlene Evon Windhorst (now Norlene Lewis, of Carson City, Nevada). Alan attended the rural Rockhill School near Wells during his elementary school years. He then went to Minneapolis High School, Minneapolis, Kansas, where he was active in the Future Farmers of America. As a senior, during 1944-45, he was President of the local FFA chapter as well as Secretary of the State of Kansas FFA. Having been unable to join the Merchant Marines prior to the end of WWII due to a heart murmur, in the fall of 1945 he enrolled at the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in Manhattan. There, he continued to be active in the FFA. He was awarded the honorary Degree of American Farmer by the State of Kansas FFA in April 1946, the first MHS graduate to ever receive this prestigious recognition. In October 1946, he was one of only two FFA members from Kansas to receive the Degree of American Farmer at the National FFA level. He graduated from Kansas State College in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Animal Husbandry.
On June 11, 1951, Alan was united in marriage to the love of his life, Shirley Ann Hall, at the St. Edwards Roman Catholic Church in Belleville, Kansas. To this union were born three children: Alana, Dave and Dana. The couple spent 43 years on their Aberdeen Angus cattle ranch near Wells, Kansas, raising their children and enjoying life. Alan had a great love for animals and the soil and tended to his labor as a farmer and rancher with pride and commitment. Alan was tirelessly industrious, and was never too busy or tired to help friends and neighbors who were ill or needed an extra pair of hands.
Upon retiring from ranching in 1995, Alan built for his bride a home overlooking the Minneapolis Municipal Golf Course. “Shirley got the house and I got the golf course,” he would joke. In addition to being an avid college and professional football and basketball fan, Alan loved the game of golf, passing along that passion to his sons and grandsons. He sometimes mused that when he retired he would play golf every day. He lived his dream, eventually accomplishing 7 “holes-in-one” here and at the golf course in Sunland Village, Mesa, Arizona, where he and Shirley had their second home. He also had a lifelong passion for airplanes and flying, eventually earning a private pilot license through instrument rating. He built a hangar for his Mooney M20 aircraft at the Minneapolis City/County Airport, from where he based his flying for many years.
Alan is preceded in death by his wife, Shirley, and survived by his daughter Alana Smith (Dan), sons Dave (Lissa) and Dana Windhorst, and sister Norlene Lewis. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Tricia (Mark) Ptasnik, Lauran and Alexa Smith, and Andy (Lauren), Aaron (Christine) and Abby Windhorst; great-grandsons Landon Windhorst, William Windhorst and Maxwell Ptasnik.
Visitation will be on Friday evening, November 17 from 5 to 7 pm at the Wilson Family Funeral Home in Minneapolis, Kansas. The funeral service will take place at the Wells United Methodist Church building, now located on the grounds of the Central Kansas Flywheels Museum, 1100 W. Diamond Dr., Salina, Kansas 67401 (785-825-8473) on Saturday, November 18 at 11:00am. This is located just north and west of the intersection of I-70 and 9th St (old 81 Highway), across from the KOA campground.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Wells Community Center located in Wells, Kansas, in care of Wilson Family Funeral Home, PO Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.