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Hunter remembered as good-natured, 'natural leader'
By Karena Walter
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 9:22:59 EDT AM
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Hunter slips, fatally shoots himself
The Fenwick father of a young man who accidentally shot himself in a hunting accident Sunday said he's been overwhelmed by the kind words of his son's friends.
"The comments I'm getting the last three days here have just been overwhelming, from people who had only known Andrew for two or three years," said Jerry Winnicki, speaking from Ottawa Tuesday.
"It makes me proud to know that he's my son."
Andrew Winnicki, who moved from Pelham to Ottawa about three years ago, was killed Sunday evening in Osgoode Ont. Well known in hockey and golf circles in Pelham, he was going to be celebrating his 23rd birthday this month.
His father said Andrew was duck hunting with his uncle and 15-year-old cousin in the rain — perfect duck hunting conditions — when he somehow slipped while he was ready to shoot and the gun went off.
He said it was Andrew's idea to go hunting. He called his uncle to go with him.
"That was his glory," his father said of Andrew's love of hunting. "The uncle is really taking it hard."
Winnicki graduated from E. L. Crossley Secondary School in Fonthill and moved to Ottawa to go to university.
After a year he decided to switch focus and eventually went into the elevator mechanic trade with his brother, who he lived with. He worked for Otis Elevators.
Growing up, Andrew got the nickname Diesel because of his broad shoulders and brickhouse stature when he was four or five years old. But he grew into a slender athlete.
He was team captain of the provincial championship Pelham Panthers when they won the bantam A/E final in 2004.
It was Pelham's first Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship in 25 years.
The head coach at the time, Mike Martelli, recalled Winnicki being a "natural leader" who other kids and coaching staff looked up to.
"He was just a pleasure to be around. He brought a lot of energy to the team, energy to the parents," Martelli said.
During the championship streak, Martelli said the team travelled on buses every weekend for six weeks and Winnicki would be the one who always livened up the long rides to places like Belleville.
"He'd get everyone wound up on the bus, laughing even after a loss," he said. "That was just the kind of guy he was."
John White, of Beechwood Golf and Country Club, also remembered Andrew as a nice kid.
"He was a very talented young player," he said.
And E.L. Crossley physical education teacher Marty Edwards said Andrew was one of those spectacular students you never forget as a teacher.
"He was the kind of student so full of positive energy, he made everyone around him happy," Edwards said.
"It's a tragic loss."
Winnicki's father Jerry said his son's friends in Ottawa are shocked and some have taken the week off work. They've told him Andrew made a big impression on them and their children, with some struggling about what they'll tell their kids.
"He didn't have an enemy. He was the type of guy who would walk into a room and leave and everybody would remember him for his presence and good nature," he said. "He was just unbelievable."
Winnicki leaves behind his mother Anne, two older brothers Robert and Matthew and a younger sister Leanna.
A second visitation will be held in Fonthill on Friday at James L. Pedlar Funeral Home with a funeral service still to be determined.
karena.walter@sunmedia.ca
