Winter, Conrad

Conrad Winter was born in Skadopki, Samara, Russia, on October 3, 1875, to farmer parents Conrad and Katherine Elizabeth Bischel Winter. Raised on the home farm and educated in local public schools, he completed three years and eight months of military service in the Russian Regular Infantry before seeking better opportunities abroad. He made the long journey to Fresno, California, in 1902, where he worked in the city and on local ranches to build his foundation.

On June 21, 1904, Conrad married Katherine Schwabenland in Fresno, and the couple went on to have three surviving children named Annie, Marie, and Christina. He purchased twenty acres of raw land on Shields Avenue in the Empire district in 1910, where he constructed his family home and established a thriving vineyard of Thompson seedless grapes, orchard crops, and alfalfa. As a member of the California Associated Raisin Company and the local Lutheran Church, his energetic labor and cooperative spirit earned him lasting success as a respected Fresno County rancher.