Elaine H. Winkelman, 83, of Belvidere, IL passed away on November 18th, 2022. Elaine was born on December 23rd, 1938 in Chicago, IL, the daughter of Leonard and Harriet (Mikolajczyk) Vandercoy. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and brother, James Vandercoy. Elaine was a graduate of Belvidere High School and received her bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard "Dick" Winkelman, on June 18, 1960. Together they owned and operated Winkelman's Flowers in Belvidere, IL.

Elaine loved music all of her life. She taught music in the Rockford school system for 4 years. After her two children were born, she taught private piano lessons in her home studio. She had many students - for a while she had a roster of 38 students a week! That was a great joy for her to share her love of music with children.

She always felt God blessed her with a wonderful family, a life filled with music, especially her ability to play piano. Her motto for her students was, "Good, better, best, never let it rest, 'til good gets better, and better gets best."

She is survived by her two children, Dr. Daniel (Monica) Winkelman, Susan (Steve) Woods; 5 grandchildren, Emily, AnnaClaire, Andrew, Brendan and Kathryn and one nephew, Andrew Vandercoy.

The funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, November 26th, 2022 at Christ Lutheran Church, 425 Riverside Rd., Belvidere, IL with Rev. Twila Schock, officiating. The visitation will be held prior to the service from 9:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Belvidere Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.