We Love Mr. Warren

You could set your watch by Mr. Odith Warren’s walks. Twice a day Mr. Warren, 79, went for a spin around the block from Chelsea to Evergreen to College to Fern. His walks were perfectly timed to catch Tammy Owen on College Street, leaving to take her two children to school. Mr. Warren’s friendly face was part of the ritual morning “hello.” Then, later that afternoon when they returned, Mr. Warren was there again for a chat. By the afternoon he often had enough news from the other neighbors to share with the Owens.

“He knew all the neighbors. He told us about people we hadn’t even met; what schools they went to, what firms they worked for; who was sick; who was laid off,” said Tammy.

Before long, Mr. Warren became an unofficial member of the Owen family. He was there every Sunday evening for dinner.

“It became a ritual.  Dinner on Sunday and then, Mr. Warren would sit with the family to watch 60 Minutes,” said Tammy. Husband, Les Owen, was a good sport when Mr. Warren changed the channel from football.

Their bond grew even stronger when Mr. Warren learned that they all attended rival schools. Tammy went to the University of Southern Mississippi, Les went to Mississippi State and Mr. Warren went to Ole Miss.

“That was our bond,” said Tammy. “He taught us and the children lessons about life.  He was a World War II veteran and he had all sorts of stories about that.  He talked a lot about his experience in business too. He was in the pipeline industry.”

One thing Mr. Warren spoke little about was family. The Owen children, Brelan (9) and Kobi (7), even noticed that Mr. Warren seemed very alone. No wife, no children and what relatives there were had lost touch. Tammy, a registered nurse, learned to check on Mr. Warren if he was not on his walking routine. As health problems developed, Tammy began to pay visits to his house. She began to learn that his life had come to literally revolve around their block.

“He kept a journal of his daily walks. He wrote down how many people he saw that day and how many talked to him. If someone didn’t speak, he wrote that!  If he waved and someone didn’t wave back he wrote that. He also wrote details that he learned that day about their lives,” said Tammy.

As she was concerned about Mr. Warren’s failing health, Tammy began encouraging him against having some experimental surgery to correct an aortal aneurism. She felt Mr. Warren wasn’t healthy enough to undergo surgery. The aneurism was pressing on his larynx and beginning to affect his speech. But while Tammy was out of town, he had the surgery, which was not successful. In May, Tammy found herself at the V.A. hospital watching Mr. Warren on life support, and as she was appointed with medical power of attorney, she had to make the difficult decision to turn off the machines supporting Mr. Warren’s life.

No family members were calling about funeral plans, so Tammy decided to hold a small memorial service in her home for those in the neighborhood who wanted to come.

“Seventy people were there! We all thought we were the only ones who had taken him in. But I found out he had been to other houses in the neighborhood for Thanksgiving and various holidays.  He had touched so many lives.  We finally met the people he had been telling us about,” said Tammy.

After the service, the neighbors decided to take a memorial walk around the block, Mr. Warren’s route.

Tammy shared with the group the last words she said to Mr. Warren while on life support.

“Thank you Mr. Warren. You gave us the gift of yourself.  You are an example of how I want my children to treat other people,” said Tammy.

The Owens later learned that Mr. Warren paid tribute to their friendship by leaving nice sums of money to their three rival colleges. Still, Tammy found herself frustrated by the fact that Mr. Warren chose to have the risky surgery against her advice.

“I later asked the doctor’s at the V.A. why he had the surgery. The doctor said it was because Mr. Warren would lose his voice without it, and that talking to his neighbors was his whole life,” said Tammy.

If Mr. Warren couldn’t speak a kind word to his neighbors he wouldn’t be Mr. Warren. For Mr. Warren, that was worth risking it all.