Johan Winsser

Johan Winsser, 74, of West Cornwall passed quietly at home after a brief illness. He was a loving and devoted, husband, father, brother, and friend.

He was born in 1948 in the Netherlands, the youngest son of Johan Winsser and Marie Louise van Temmen. He earned a B.A. from Earlham College, an M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School, and an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After college he held positions in community counseling, before changing careers to teach high school, college and graduate school. For more than thirty years he worked in technology and telecommunications, for a while running his own business, and retired as a senior network planner for Verizon.   

He was a competitive runner, enjoyed gardening and stewardship of conservation lands, was self-reliant, and designed and helped build the house he and his family lived in. He was a scholar of early New England history, publishing several academic articles and then a biography of Mary Dyer, the Quaker martyr, who was hanged in 1660 for civil disobedience. He felt strongly about fairness and justice, had a sharp eye and ear for nonsense, and enjoyed challenging convention.

Johan is survived by his beloved wife, Ann, son Nicholas, daughter Katharine (Katya), and brother Fred of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

There will be no funeral. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.