Thomas Wynn

Thomas Stanley Wynn, of Winona, Minnesota, died unexpectedly on July 1, 2026, following complications from surgery. He was 75.

Tom was born May 9, 1951, in Baden, Pennsylvania, to William and Nellie Wynn, and grew up in a four-room row house in a close-knit community of steelworking families. He graduated from Ambridge High School in 1969, where he discovered his love of athletics playing football for the Bridgers, taking the field on Friday nights in front of crowds of thousands. The belief his coaches and parents placed in him opened the door to a scholarship at Juniata College, and Tom never forgot what that chance meant to him. At Juniata he earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1973, playing football and running track and earning seven varsity letters in four years. On the field and among his teammates on Thunder Alley, he formed the value that team sports taught the lessons that mattered most for succeeding in business and in life, and it was there, too, that he met Barbara, whom he would spend the next fifty-three years beside.

Tom began his career at Campbell Chain in York, Pennsylvania, working across sales, marketing, and management for 24 years. In 1997 he and Barbara moved to Winona, Minnesota, where he joined Peerless Chain, rising over the next 21 years from Director of Product and Market Development to President and CEO, helping build it into the largest chain manufacturer in North America. He continued on as Senior Advisor to Peerless and KITO Corporation after his retirement in 2015. Tom served on many industry boards and had connections and friendships with colleagues around the world.

Outside of work, Tom was a networker and community builder everywhere he and his family lived, in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and North Carolina. From running legendary charades parties, to organizing pig roasts at the local pool club, to judging elaborate Easter egg dyeing contests, leading neighborhood Christmas caroling, and hosting endless tailgates for sporting events, Tom was always bringing people together to connect and have fun. Over the past 30 years, Tom and Barbara made Winona home and gave themselves fully to it. Tom served as Chair of the Winona State University Board of Trustees and as a member and president of the Winona State Warrior Club, driven by a real passion for helping student athletes get the chance to go to college and thrive. He was also president of the Winona Rotary Club and a board member of the Winona Community Foundation. A cradle Episcopalian, Tom was an active and beloved member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, serving on the Vestry and as a Eucharist Minister.

Tom was a friend you could always count on, the kind of reliable, predictable presence who filled in the upper left quadrant of the crossword first, couldn't plan an event without his Clipboard o' Fun, and showed up fifteen minutes early to everything on principle. But above all, his most precious role was being Pop to his four granddaughters: endless laughs, beating them at Yahtzee, summers together in Eagles Mere, and following their every game and activity.

Tom is survived by his wife of 53 years, Barbara; their daughters, Kelly Webster (Ben) of Killingworth, Connecticut, and Sarah McWhorter (Tyler) of Chicago, Illinois; and his four granddaughters, Annie and Greta Webster and Harriett and Esther McWhorter, who brought him more joy than anything else in his life. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Cathy Wynn of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Nellie Wynn, and his brother, William A. Wynn Jr.

A funeral service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Winona, Minnesota, on Monday, July 6, at 10:00 a.m. Arrangements are entrusted to Hoff Funeral Home.

Memorial gifts may be made to Juniata College (Office of Development, 1700 Moore Street, Huntingdon, PA 16652), Winona State University, or St. Paul's Episcopal Church (265 Lafayette Street, Winona, MN 55987).