George M. Warren Jr.

George M. Warren Jr., 87, died Tuesday, January 12, 2010, at Wellmont Hospice House following an illness of several months. The family maintained their home in Bristol, Va., to the present. Warren was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Appeals, the United States Court for the Western District of Virginia, the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and by association in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Other significant tributes of merit included the Emory and Henry Charter Day Citation, the Bristol Bar Association's Lifetime Service Award, Life Membership in the Bristol Life Saving Crew, and Lifetime Outstanding and Dedicated Service Awards from the Bristol Virginia Police Department and the Bristol Virginia Sheriff's Office, and the Board of Visitors of Emory and Henry College.
Warren was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1963 and served through 1975, representing the Counties of Lee, Scott, Washington, Smyth, a portion of Russell, and the City of Bristol. He was a member of the Senate Committees on Courts of Justice, Finance, Privileges and Elections, and Roads and Internal Navigation. Serving on the Staff of three Virginia Governors, he was a Member of the State Crime Commission for 12 years, the Election Laws Study Commission, and more than a dozen special "Blue Ribbon" Commission appointments. Senator Warren was chief patron of the legislation and Chairman of the Study Commission that created the School of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. He introduced legislation that designated Natural Tunnel a Virginia State Park, and that created the Bristol-Washington County Industrial Park.
Warren was elected Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Bristol, Va., in 1976 and served until his retirement in January 2002, thus marking 37 years of elected Constitutional offices held in service to the citizens of Bristol, Southwest Virginia meanwhile served for eight years on the Virginia State Council for Higher Education.
On August 1, 2002, the Governor of Virginia appointed Mr. Warren as Pro Tempore Judge of the General District Court of the Twenty-Eighth Judicial District for the Counties of Smyth, Washington, and the City of Bristol. He was 80 years old when he left the Bench in January 2003.
In addition to his wife, Musser W. Warren, he is survived by two sons, George M. Warren III and wife, Margaret, of Little River, S.C., and James Watkins Warren, of Bristol, Va.; a daughter, Merle Warren Dickert and husband, Robert, of Bristol, Va.; grandsons, George Mason Dickert, Robert William Dickert, and John Warren Dickert; and niece, Janet Gemmell Kell, of Richmond.
The family will receive friends at Akard Funeral Home, 1912 West State, Bristol, Tenn., on Thursday, January 14, 2010, from 4 to 7 p.m. A private burial service will be held at the Warren family grave site, Emory, Va.
The family suggests that those who wish might make a memorial gift to a charity of their choosing.