Elise Varner Winter | |
|---|---|
 Winter in 2010 | |
| First Lady of Mississippi | |
| In office January 22, 1980 – January 10, 1984 | |
| Governor | William F. Winter |
| Preceded by | Zelma Smith Finch |
| Second Lady of Mississippi | |
| In office January 17, 1972 – January 14, 1976 | |
| Governor | Bill Waller |
| Preceded by | Mary Lester Rayner Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 9, 1926 Senatobia, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 2021 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | William F. Winter |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | William Elliot John Varner Mamie Veazey |
| Education | Northwest Junior College University of Mississippi |
Elise Varner Winter (May 9, 1926 - July 17, 2021) was an American civic leader and activist who served as the Second Lady of Mississippi from 1972 to 1976 and as the First Lady of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. She was an advocate for public education, affordable housing, prison reform, and advancement of the arts.
Winter led a statewide grassroots campaign for educational reforms and pushed for the 1982 Educational Reform Act to be passed in the Mississippi State Legislature. She helped establish Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, then a women's prison, in Pearl, Mississippi upon discovering that women were being incarcerated at the overwhelmingly male prison. Winter was responsible for establishing a visitor center for the families of inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary and established a working greenhouse and garden for the inmates there.
After leaving public life, Winter served on the International Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity and was a founding member of the organization's chapter in Jackson, Mississippi.