James "Jim" Harold Winkler, z”l, businessman, philanthropist and civic leader, passed away in Portland Nov. 22, 2022, at age 72 due to complications from an infection. Jim is survived by his wife, Susan Winkler; children, Jordan Winkler (Cristin Campbell), Julia Winkler (Jonas Jacobson) and Jacob Winkler (Edith); grandchildren, Maxwell Jacobson, Miriam Winkler, Margot Winkler and Talia Winkler; siblings, Victor Winkler (Korina), Bernice Skoro (Carl), Beverly Greenfield (Chuck) and Fern Schlesinger; and many nieces and nephews. Jim was preceded in death by his sister, Velma Almo.
Jim was born July 20, 1950, in Mallersdorf, Germany, to Polish and Austrian Holocaust survivors living in a United Nations displaced persons’ camp. In 1951, he and his family emigrated from Germany to the United States to settle in Portland. Jim graduated from Grant High School in 1968, where he was a speech and debate champion, ranked third nationally. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University in 1972.
After graduation, Jim intended to become a philosophy professor but returned to Portland when his father fell ill. He eventually attended the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College as a night student while starting his business career by day. There, he met his future wife, Susan Swire. The couple married in 1980 and enjoyed a love-filled marriage marked by a shared passion for the arts and the joys of raising their three children.

Jim was active in the city’s Jewish community. In 2013, he received the 14th Annual Rabbi Joshua Stampfer Community Enrichment Award. He was a member of Congregation Beth Israel.

As a community leader, Jim dedicated himself to board service focused on the arts, Jewish community and health care. He served as a trustee of the Portland Art Museum for over 25 years and also served Cedar Sinai Park (as capital campaign chair and president), the OHSU Foundation and several other arts and Jewish organizations.

Jim was president of Winkler Development Corporation, a real estate development and investment company responsible for dozens of projects in the Pacific Northwest. Through Winkler, Jim was involved in the acquisition, rehabilitation and operation of residential and commercial real estate, including aiding Cedar Sinai Park to acquire four low-income housing projects for seniors in downtown Portland.

Oregon Arts Watch says he was known and admired for his key role in the DeSoto Project, which in 2007 transformed the former Daisy Kingdom fabric building and warehouse on Portland’s North Park Blocks into the thriving center of an art gallery and museum district. The redevelopment became a crucial factor in the revival of the North Park Blocks, buttressed by its proximity to nearby galleries such as Elizabeth Leach and Blackfish, and the move in 2015 of the Pacific Northwest College of Art to a campus just a couple of blocks away. What emerged was an art district that is now home to the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. OJMCHE Director Judy Margles praised Jim’s moral vision to “catalyze a neighborhood” around the arts.

Jim was recognized for his vision, expertise and embrace of innovative development techniques. He received several awards during his career, including an Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence, the highest recognition in the real estate field, for his transformation of a former hospital in North Portland into Adidas Village, the Adidas America headquarters.
Donations in his memory can be made to Cedar Sinai Park, the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, or a charity of your choosing.
The family invites you to join them for a memorial service in celebration of Jim’s life at 3 pm, Thursday, Dec. 15, at Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 NW Flanders St., Portland. A reception will follow.