2008

Joe passed away peacefully on March 11, 2008.  He was more than just Mel's loving husband for 57 years, the father of six and a grandfather; Joe was the quintessential WINS ambassador.  A baseball player in his early years, successful banker and senior staff member of the Treasury Department, he loved numismatics and WINS, and felt that all WINS members were part of his extended family.  Joe opened his heart and home to any member attending one of the many hobby-related shows in the area, and went out of his way to encourage member participation in all WINS events.

Joe began sharing his lifelong collection by giving away pieces of it in what he called his "Hat Drawing" conducted during WINS auctions for participating members, (a feature being continued by WINS members).  His passion in recent years had been a quest to obtain one example of every FAO/Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations coin produced, but it quietly changed to the pursuit of Bust half dollars.  Joe had a burning passion for every facet of the hobby and enjoyed sharing knowledge about all things hobby-related on both the WINS email lists and in private.  He was particularly adamant about introducing young collectors to the hobby.

Joe was one of the great people, not only in numismatics, but also in life: one of those very few genuinely altruistic persons.  He will be greatly missed and truly deserves the title, "Mr. WINS".

On January 19, 2006, we lost a very valuable member and friend - Steve (Catman) Kaden, WINS#336.  A very  generous and giving person, Steve was always ready to share his knowledge and help others, and well-known for his efforts to bring numismatics to young collectors. The Young Numismatists he has introduced and nurtured in the hobby will be his legacy.

In spite of numerous illnesses, Steve was always willing to help others or just share a joke or a laugh. It takes a special person to overcome his own adversity and find joy in life and friends. Steve was this type of person. His sense of humor will be sorely missed. Steve always seemed to be able to find laughter in everything. He touched many lives in so many ways and will always be remembered with love and respect. Read more here.

She wasn't a coin collector and she wasn't even a WINS member, but Linda Diedrich, the dYneX internet group (dynamic expressions designs & the dynexgroup server) owner, provided WINS free domain hosting fom the early days in June of 1999.  Although she wasn't a coin collector, Linda was very impressed by what the WINS founding group were trying to accomplish and by the "family oriented" collecting environment they wished to create.  She was so impressed that the WINS web site became a client she proudly referred to that represented her "family oriented" server environment.  She also provided WINS behind the scenes support with the database setup, the DOMO email lists and any scripting software we needed.  Linda died of complications resulting from a brain tumor and subsequent post-biopsy infection, early Tuesday morning, August 24, 2004.

Pete Bishal, passed away on the morning of October 12th, 2003. He had been attending the WESPNEX coin show in New York and died from an apparent heart attack just before leaving his hotel room to set up for the Sunday morning show.

Anybody that knew Pete could easily verify he was "DaNutt", even Pete’s business card listed his company name as "DaNutts".  Often loud and boisterous, he was always quick with the jokes and loved a good time. Pete is credited with coining the name CONECA and was a distinguished researcher of Morgan Dollars.