Polly Winkler Mitchell

Polly Janice Winkler-Mitchell, age 81 of Carbondale, passed away at home on Monday, November 18, 2019. She was born in Berwyn, Illinois in 1938 to Clyde V. Winkler and Elma Spiller Winkler. After her childhood in Cicero, the family moved to Carbondale. There Polly attended the University School and Southern Illinois Normal University, making life-long friends along the way. Her love of the past manifested itself early, and she opened her first antiques shop when she was sixteen. Polly married Marion W. Mitchell in 1958. The couple has two daughters, Susan and Sarah. Polly and Marion were pioneers of the heritage crafts movement, and spent much of their sixty-one year marriage reenacting, teaching, and preserving eighteenth century lifeways and arts. Polly’s scherenschnitte (elaborate paper cutting) and Marion’s bentwood boxes are nationally known for their beauty, and fidelity to antique patterns and construction techniques. For many years Polly and Marion traveled the world on cruises, with Polly teaching scherenschnitte, and Marion giving destination lectures. After they tired of working, they kept traveling, effectively squandering whatever fortune the family may have had—they did this with their daughters’ encouragement, of course. They went from China to Patagonia—but their favorite place, to which they returned again and again, was Alaska. Polly will be sorely missed by all who knew her or admired her art. She is survived by her devoted husband, Marion, daughters, Susan Mitchell Sommers and Sarah Gribbins, their husbands, Dallas Sommers and Neil Gribbins, grandchildren, Alexander and Sophia Sommers, and more friends than you could shake a stick at. Polly was predeceased by her parents, Clyde and Elma, and her older brother, Malcolm. Cremation rites have been accorded. A Graveside Service will be Friday, November 22, 2019 at 10:30 am in Pleasant Grove Memorial Park. Family and Friends are asked to go directly to the cemetery. Inurnment will follow. A Memorial Service for Polly Janice Winkler-Mitchell will be Friday, January 10, 2020 at 7:00 pm in Crain Pleasant Grove-Murdale Funeral Home with Lay Chaplain, Ted Mueller, officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until the hour of service. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society and will be accepted at the funeral home.

Polly Winkler Mitchell

September 16, 1938 - November 18, 2019