Harry Winston Westbrook, Sr.

Harry Winston “Wink” Westbrook, Sr., of Athens, GA, passed away on July 15, 2023, at the age of 95. Wink, as he was known to friends and family, was born in Carrollton, GA, on April 26, 1928, the son of the late Lloyd Claibourne Westbrook, Sr., and Exa Roper Westbrook. He was the fourth of Lloyd and Exa’s five children.

Wink’s passion for the outdoors was the center of his personal and professional life. He spent his career in the agriculture industry, was an avid hunter and fisherman, and had a particular passion for archery and shooting. He enjoyed farming, caring for animals, gardening (“if necessary” he would say), and helping others do the same. Wink was a great teacher and mentor to many young people, especially rising young professionals in his company. He was meticulously honest, a great and witty storyteller, and possessed an astounding ability to laugh at himself even in the darkest of times. Few men have lived a life more comfortable in their own skin.

His family moved to Athens in 1939. Wink graduated from Winterville High School in 1945 and played on the school’s basketball team, which won the State Championship his senior year.  After completing one semester at the University of Georgia, he joined the United States Navy and served two years as a Hospital Corpsman at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Corona, California.

After honorable discharge from the Navy in 1948, Wink returned to Athens and began the family farm operation, which included cattle, seed production, and commercial eggs. He married his wife of sixty-nine years, Nina Jeanne’ Damron, in 1954, and in the same year began his work with Rain and Hail Insurance Bureau as a Crop Insurance Adjuster. He retired from the company in 1993 as Assistant Manager of the Southern Division Office in Atlanta, but he continued to serve the company in various special assignments until 2005.

He is survived by his wife Jeanne’, sister-in-law Mary Hamby, and two sons (Harry Winston Westbrook, Jr. (Dianne), and Clay Morris Westbrook (Elizabeth)), three grandsons, one great-granddaughter, and 16 nieces and nephews and their families. He was preceded in death by his parents, his three brothers and their spouses (Lloyd Claibourne Westbrook, Jr. (Evelyn), James Wiley Westbrook (Jeannette), and Travis Dean Westbrook (Martha)), and his sister, Helen Rose Westbrook.

Wink will be laid to rest in Oconee Hills Cemetery in Athens, GA, beside his parents and sister. The family will have visitation from 10-11am on Wednesday, July 19, at Lord & Stephens Funeral Home East, with burial immediately following. The family is grateful for the work of Gentiva Hospice in support of Wink and Jeanne’, and are especially grateful to Margie Glenn, Sandra Washington, and Traci Johnson for their love and care for Wink in his life’s closing months.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, EAST, Athens is entrusted with arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com.