Winket Jefferson Tramel

Winket Jefferson Tramel of Huntsville, Alabama, died March 2, 2021, following complications from COVID.

            He was born in Dekalb County Tennessee on January 18, 1938, to Tallmer Petway Tramel and Ocie Hale Beckwith Tramel.

            He was married to the love of his life, Emily Jane Geer Tramel on June 15, 1958. He loved to tell everyone he met that he had been married over 62 ½ years to his wonderful wife, and that he loved her more now than the day that he married her.  They had 2 children, Deborah Lynne Tramel Collette (David) and Robert Wallace Tramel (Terri).

            Winket was a native of Dekalb County Tennessee and he graduated in 1956 from Dekalb County High School. He went on to graduate from Tennessee Technological University in 1963 with a degree in Civil Engineering. While in college he was elected to Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and was honored to serve on the prestigious Joint Engineering Council. He lived and worked in McMinnville, Tennessee for the majority of his life, only recently moving to Huntsville, Alabama, to be near his children. He worked for 35 years for the same company, building many life long relationships, retiring in 1998 as a branch manager for APAC, Inc.

            Prior to his move to Alabama, he was an active member of First United Methodist Church in McMinnville, Tennessee, where he loved to attend the Sunday Morning Contemporary Service. He was very involved in outreach and helping other people. He cooked and delivered meals for the Good Neighbor program, helped lead the Superstar program for seniors, and worked with the Fuel Bag program providing food for school children on weekends. His service to the community and to the church earned him a Special Mission Recognition Membership awarded by The United Methodist Women (UMW). He also prepared breakfast for Breakfast Rotary, which earned him an honorary Lifetime Rotary Membership.

            Throughout his life he had many hobbies, some of which included photography, woodworking, model trains, and jigsaw puzzles. He loved to watch both the Tennessee Titans and the Tennessee Volunteers football games. He also earned a pilots license in his younger years.

            He was preceded in death by his parents Tallmer Petway Tramel and Ocie Hale Beckwith Tramel; and two sisters, Christine Tramel Moore (Howard) and Ruth Beckwith Taylor (J.B.).

            He is survived by his devoted wife Emily Jane Geer Tramel; his children, Deborah Lynne Tramel Collette (David) and Robert Wallace Tramel (Terri); three grandchildren, Emily Clare Collette (Bartlee Linton), Olivia Anne Collette, and Mark Robert Tramel; two sisters, Marguerite Tramel Jones (McKinley) and Linda Tramel Stanley (Fred); sister-in-law Virginia Geer Clifford (George); and several nieces and nephews.

            A graveside service will be held on March 19, 2021, at 10:00 am at Mt. View Cemetery in McMinnville, Tennessee. The family requests all attendees to wear masks and to social distance, regardless of vaccine status, in order to prevent the spread of COVID.

            In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Building Fund at First United Methodist Church in McMinnville, Tennessee.

This information provided as a courtesy of DeKalb Funeral Chapel.

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