The Haines Alaska Native Brotherhood held a memorial service for past president Richard C. Warren Sr. Tuesday, followed by a service conducted by Pastor Jones Hotch at the ANB Hall.
Warren apparently died in his sleep of heart failure early last week. He was 76 and had suffered several years with congestive heart disease and other ailments.
Daughter Jodene Warren said her father was quiet and diligent. “He was kind-hearted and believed in hard work,” she said. “He said, ‘You start a job, you do your best work, and you finish it.’”
Warren served on the board of Klukwan, Inc., and was past president of the local ANB and a past regional ANB Grand Camp treasurer.
“Richard preferred to be behind the scenes rather than the limelight, but would step up when he had to,” nephew Ralph Strong said. “His quiet strength and dedication to his family, the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the community of Haines will be greatly missed.”
Richard Warren was born March 26, 1934 in Klukwan, the youngest child in the family of Edward T. Warren Sr. and Jenny Kaatchkanax. He was a Kaagwantaan Eagle of the Wolf House and his Tlingit names were S’eekwaiteesh, Yanwoolhaash and Tl’eido.
In his youth he worked as a fisherman, laborer and longshoreman.
He joined the Army in 1952 as a combat engineer and was a corporal, family members said. Later he learned to operate heavy equipment at a trade school in Chicago and worked as a heavy equipment operator for the Schnabel Lumber Company and at the Army tank farm at Lutak.
He married Phoebe Hammond in the Haines courthouse in 1965 and they raised two children. He was devoted to her until her death in October 2008, his daughter said. “He loved his family and was a good dad.”
Before his health suffered, he hunted and fished, but above all he and Phoebe liked to take long drives, Jodene Warren said, including to Whitehorse, Anchorage, Circle, Eagle, and Valdez.
After his wife died, Warren frequently ate with his nephews at the bakery. Owner Miki Atkins said, “He was here for breakfast and lunch. Such a sweet man. I’ll really miss him.”
Warren was preceded in death by his wife, and siblings Charles Warren, Fred Warren, David S. Paddy, Albert Paddy, Abbie Strong, Mabel Wright, Adeline Warren and Jenny Pavlik. He is survived by brother Edward T. Warren of Klukwan; children Jodene Warren of Hydaburg and Richard Warren Jr. of Juneau; grandsons Sidney and Robert Warren-Edenshaw of Hydaburg, and many nieces and nephews.
He was buried at Jones Point next to Phoebe.