Richard J. "Dick" Pope

Richard Joseph “Dick” Pope, 89, formerly of Winona, MN, passed gently from this life on Friday, October 17, 2025, at Trouvaille Memory Care Suites in Excelsior, MN.

Dick was born in St. Peter, MN, to Willmar and Helen (Ballman) Pope on August 2, 1936, and raised on a farm in Cleveland, MN. He spent his formative years driving tractor, playing basketball and football for Cleveland High School, and working at the Green Giant processing plant “for as many hours as I could stay awake.” As salutatorian of his class of 13 students, Dick earned several scholarships and his mother insisted he become the first in the family of farmers to attend college. She made sure of it by having the local priest drop him off at St. John’s University in Collegeville.

Following graduation from St. John’s with a B.A. in Economics, he served his country as a Commissioned Officer, First Lieutenant, at U.S. Army bases near Richmond, VA, and Leesville, LA.

Dick met the love of his life, Sandy (Manuel), at Hardiger’s Dance Hall on Lake Jefferson in Cleveland, MN, and together they danced their way through 67 years of friendship, love, and partnership. Married on June 14, 1958, they raised three daughters: Kathleen, Lisa, and Jody.

In 1959, Dick began his professional career at Jostens. Notably, he sold championship rings to four of the first five Super Bowl-winning coaches, including Green Bay’s Vince Lombardi and Kansas City’s Hank Stram, who personally picked him up at the airport and chauffeured him to the office. Dick wryly noted, “Things were different back then.”

In 1979, Dick caught the entrepreneurial bug and became a partner and CEO of WinCraft, then a small school catalog company specializing in pompoms, pennants, and buttons. Under his leadership, WinCraft quickly expanded by acquiring another Winona company, Asco, Inc. securing its first major league licenses. Guided by the principle that “doing the right things for the right reasons will work out long term,” Dick built WinCraft into an industry leader known for quality and integrity. Minnesotans will remember WinCraft’s Homer Hankies that aided fans in cheering on the Twins to their two World Series victories in 1987 and 1991.

He took immense pride in the people of WinCraft and loved to stop and chat during his weekly walk through the factories. When Dick sold WinCraft in December 2020 to Fanatics, the company had become a premier manufacturer of licensed and promotional products for professional sports teams, retailers, colleges, and businesses nationwide—producing American-made goods across six U.S. facilities and employing over 600 people. In addition to partnerships with every major sports league, WinCraft created products for Disney, John Deere, Star Wars, the Kentucky Derby, Coca-Cola, the Olympics, NASCAR, IndyCar, and each branch of the U.S. military.

Dick devoted his time and talents to causes he believed in, serving on numerous boards, including the National Arabian Horse Association, National Football League Properties, Citizens Scholarship Foundation of America, United Way of Winona, St. John’s University Alumni Association, and the Winona State University President’s Advisory Council. He was also a Past Chairman of the Board for Merchants Bank, Winona. He and Sandy established a scholarship fund at St. John’s University to support future students, and they contributed generously to the Mayo Clinic Foundation.

A lifelong sports fan of questionable loyalty, Dick cheered for whichever team bought the most product. He enjoyed golfing, feeding his backyard birds, collecting wine, and raising Arabian horses. He traveled the globe extensively for both business and pleasure—carrying the Olympic torch en route to the Salt Lake City Games, driving a NASCAR, and attending numerous Super Bowls and All-Star events.

Though Dick lived an extraordinary life, he found his greatest joy in simple moments spent with family and friends.

Dick is survived by his loving wife, Sandra; daughters: Kathleen (Rob McColl) Pope, Lisa (Ron Chladek) Pope, and Jody (Eric) Johnson; sister, Carol (Tony) Frantz; brother, Bill (Mary) Pope; sister-in-law, Susan Manuel; grandchildren: Lucy (Adam) Pope Gerhardt, Jon Karl (Megan) Petters, Karina (Ryan) Jordan, Anna Petters, and Max (Jacqueline) Johnson; five great-grandchildren: Avery, Jack, and Walker Petters, Aesha Petters Rodriguez, and Kalvin Jordan; cousin John Griep; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Willmar and Helen Pope; in-laws, Harold R. and Ione Manuel and her second husband Robert Crutchfield; sister-in-law, Gayla Clemons; brother-in-law, Mike Manuel; and great-granddaughter, Harper Petters.

Visitation will be held at Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, from 4 PM to 7 PM.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 AM on Wednesday October 29, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka with The Very Reverend Patrick Arens officiating.

Private family burial will be held at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Winona.

Following the Mass, a celebration of Dick’s life will be held at Signatures Event Center in Winona from 1 PM to 4 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully asks that memorials be directed to The Dick and Sandy Pope Family Foundation for the Benefit of Winona Youth Sports