Archibald Reese Winter was born on September 13, 1913 in Mobile, Alabama. He graduated from Murphy High School in 1930, Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1935 with a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture and earned a Master's Degree in Architecture from Catholic University of America in 1937. He did graduate research in City Planning at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, studying with renowned Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen (1939-1941). He practiced architecture and city planning from 1941 to 1984, except for his World War II service in the Pacific Theater with the U.S. Navy (Executive Officer - USS Register, APD-92). Winter's architectural work, in association with T. Howard Ellis, included the Mobile YWCA Youth Center and Residence, Isle Dauphine Country Club, and various other buildings. He did city planning, urban renewal, and related work in: Alabama - Mobile, Elba, Florence, and Gadsden; Kentucky - Old Louisville; Louisianna - Shreveport, Bossier City, Natchitoches, Monrore, Bastrop, Vidalia, Ferriday, Jonesville, St. Joseph, Ouachita Parish and Concordia Parish; Mississippi - Natchez and Gulfport. Winter was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and had served on its Board of Directors as well as on state and national committees. He also was a member of the American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners. In 1996, the Alabama Architectural Foundation named him 'Alabama Distinguished Architect' - the first award of its kind. Other awards included AIA Gulf States Region Honor Award for the Isle Dauphine Country Club, AIA Citation of Excellence in Community Architecture (1965) for the Shreveport Downtown Plan, Tennessee Soc. of Architects Medal of Merit (1971), and Mobile Historical Development Committee Certificate of Commendation (1981). A lifelong bachelor, Winter died March 8, 2005 in Fairhope, Alabama.