Winslow Long was born in Liverpool, England, on February 11, 1922, to Major Walter Long, a reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin, and Annie McIwrick Sproul Long, a Scottish immigrant. On the Long side he was directly descended from the Winslows, English farmers who immigrated to colonial New England.
Winslow grew up in Haddenfield, New Jersey, where as a teenager he dreamed of becoming a farmer. Living in a then-segregated area of the country, Winslow, nonetheless, believed in the equality and dignity of all human beings. He attended Michigan State University for one year, and at the age of 19 married Barbara Jane Henry on October 4, 1941 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
Winslow and Barbara had five children, including twin daughters. Winslow used to explain how he became a feminist before feminism, helping to care for the babies. The children worked on the farm and helped to raise the family food in a large garden. During World War II, Winslow took care of two farms. Winslow’s essential occupation as a farmer kept him out of the army for some time. Just as he was ordered to report for his draft physical the war ended.
Winslow trained dogs and over the years many different dogs—collies, border collies, and german shepherds—were part of the family.
For several decades beginning in the early 1950s, Winslow worked as a dairyman and farm manager on the Eastern Shore of Maryland near Chestertown. He was also a beekeeper and a cognoscente of plants and trees.
In 1954, when their oldest children were 11, his wife returned to college, graduating summa cum laude. She went to graduate school, got her Ph.D., and went on to a distinguished career as a research psychologist. In middle age, Winslow also returned to college, graduated, and became a Certified Public Accountant. He was a trustee of the Kent County Public Library, and did major work landscaping and caring for the plants at the library. On October 3, 2002, in a ceremony, the library dedicated a willow oak tree in his honor, including a plaque placed in front of the tree. He also contributed extensive labor and expertise to the Washington College Arboretum.
Winslow changed his affiliation from Methodist to Quaker because he saw Quakerism as being more in accord with his values. He became a member of the Chester River Friends Meeting in Chestertown, Maryland in April 1983. Winslow worshiped with and served Chester River Friends in many ways including a term as presiding clerk. During the Chestertown decades Winslow and Barbara lived at Comegys Bight Farm, located on the Chester River, then at Rock Hall, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, and finally at Heron Point retirement community in Chestertown.
Winslow was Barbara’s devoted caretaker during her last years. Dr. Barbara H. Long died in 2003.
Winslow moved to Seattle in 2007 with his dog Toby and transferred his membership to University Friends Meeting in May 2008. He lived in an apartment in Wallingford adjacent to the home of his youngest daughter and her husband.
Winslow could be constantly seen walking around the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle peering at plants; upon his death he was found to possess more than 300 books on botany, plants, and trees. Winslow went to exercise class, and met friends for coffee and for lunch. Winslow walked around Green Lake every day, and walked to University Friends Meeting every Sunday, where he was an active and loved member of the community. Winslow served on the Building and Grounds Committee, was the guest-of-honor at a Friends Center Life Story pot-luck in 2009, and was a regular at the Art Salon pot-lucks in the Quaker House. Winslow had a wonderful sense of humor and was always apt to make a joke.
Winslow’s parents had read to their children every day and in his later years Winslow was an avid reader of science, novels, poetry, and nonfiction. Winslow memorized and declaimed poetry, the most famous being “Birches” by Robert Frost, which he recited to his friends and family on the occasion of his 90th birthday celebration at University Friends Meeting. Winslow also loved mathematics and studied algebra, calculus, and other arcane mathematical matters on a daily basis.
Winslow’s main challenge was that as he got older he became increasingly hard of hearing. Although he could no longer hear the messages being shared in Meeting for Worship, Winslow stated that he was content in just being present there. During his last few years, Winslow’s care committee arranged for members of meeting to sit next to him in Meeting for Worship and write out the messages being shared.
Winslow died of congestive heart failure in his Seattle home on April 27, 2013, at the age of 91. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dr. Barbara H. Long, and by his daughter Susanne Long (1946-1986). He is survived by son Andrew Long and Leslie Hudgins, daughter Priscilla Long and Jay Schlechter, daughter Pamela Long and Bob Korn, daughter Elizabeth Long and David Messerschmidt, grandchildren Dan and Michele Long, Allison Korn and Marco Yunga Tacuri, Joanna Long and Mike Becker, and Eric Messerschmidt. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Kyla Long, Lucas Samay Yunga Korn, Tiago Asha Yunga Korn, and by many dear friends.