Elise Varner Winter

Elise Varner Winter (May 9, 1926 - July 17, 2021) was an American civic leader and activist who served as the Second Lady of Mississippi from 1972 to 1976 and as the First Lady of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. She was an advocate for public education, affordable housing, prison reform, and advancement of the arts.

Winter led a statewide grassroots campaign for educational reforms and pushed for the 1982 Educational Reform Act to be passed in the Mississippi State Legislature. She helped establish Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, then a women's prison, in Pearl, Mississippi upon discovering that women were being incarcerated at the overwhelmingly male prison. Winter was responsible for establishing a visitor center for the families of inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary and established a working greenhouse and garden for the inmates there.

After leaving public life, Winter served on the International Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity and was a founding member of the organization's chapter in Jackson, Mississippi.

Early life and family Elise Varner Winter was born Elise Varner on May 9, 1926, in Senatobia to Mamie Veazey Varner and William Elliot John Varner. She had two siblings, John and Virginia. Winter's father was a pharmacist and politician who served as the mayor of Senatobia and her mother was a bookkeeper. The family lived with her mother's parents in a large, old house on Main Street in Senatobia. She later attended graduate school for a master's degree and teaching certificate.

She was an active member of her husband's administration, and sought to bring changes to the state's educational system. She had a seat at staff meetings on policy and administrative decision making. She collaborated with state officials and specialists to develop a collection of antique furnishings and art for the mansion and supervised the organizing of Friends of the Mansion.

Personal life

While a student at Ole Miss, she was introduced to her brother's roommate William F. Winter, a young World War II veteran who was enrolled at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Winter family did not hold public funeral services for them. In May 2022, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour were both in attendance at a memorial service for the Winters held at the Two Mississippi Museums. Clinton gave the keynote remarks during the service.