Charles William Warren

1932 - 2020

Rochester, New York - Charles William Warren, age 88, died peacefully on Thursday (February 13, 2020).

Charles was born January 27, 1932 in North Platte, Nebraska to Earl and Lela Robinson Warren. He appeared from an early age to have inherited a keen interest in music and the intellectual world. At the age of nine, he worked as a floor cleaner at a meat factory to buy his first trombone and take lessons from the famous ""Nebraska Music Man"", R. Cedric Anderson. On the day of his first lesson, the nervous fourth-grader saw Shirley, his teacher's daughter of the same age, on the porch. She said ""Hi Chuck"" and swished her curls off her shoulder. The spark was struck and by 7th grade and on through high school they were inseparable.

Upon high school graduation in 1949, Charles was already a lauded trombone soloist state-wide. He joined the U. S. Naval School of Music, played with the CiniPac band at Pearl Harbor and graduated with honors. He was then sent to Honolulu, Hawaii to serve in the band of the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet. Upon his return, he and Shirley Anderson married on October 25, 1952 in the First Lutheran Church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

While building their family, Charles received both a PhD and MA in Musicology from Ohio State University after receiving his BA degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Iowa.

He was a professor of music and musicology at Colorado College, Yale University, Eisenhower College and at the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology until his retirement in 1998.

Through the years, Charles founded and conducted college-community orchestras in order to widen music appreciation and participation. In line with this, both he and Shirley were involved in numerous church choirs from 1957-1996, where Charles directed the choir/instrumentals and Shirley played the pipe organ. They were an indefatigable music-loving duo.

Throughout his career and retirement, Dr. Warren wrote for many professional and scholarly publications, titles including: *Brunelleschi's Dome and Dufay's Motet*; *The Whig Interpretation of Liberal Education*; *Music at Nonesuch* and *Song-Paths in Pindar*. In 1974, while teaching at Eisenhower College, he was given a one-year sabbatical to be an editor and member of the Executive Committee for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians in London. His last paper, *Music in the Royal Tombs of Ur*, was left unfinished as age took its inevitable toll on body and mind.

Charles is survived by his dearly beloved wife of 67 years, Shirley Anderson Warren; his daughters Kjersti M. Warren, Anne K. Warren and Tanya Lee Warren; and his son, David Charles Warren. He also leaves behind his well-loved grandchildren Caroline (Andrew) Katz, Emily (Thomas) Harrington, Christopher, Gregory, and Brenna Spaulding, and Julia and Garrett Warren; seven beloved great-grandchildren; and nephew Robbie Warren, Jr.

He was predeceased by his parents; his brothers Darrell and Robert Warren; and his nephew, Scott Warren.

Most knew Charles Warren as a brilliant scholar, a mover and shaker in the world of musicology, a gifted poet and storyteller and an inspiring teacher of thousands. But what many of us remember most about him was his exquisite, gut-busting sense of humor. His puns were second to none and he had an endless supply of spontaneous nicknames for his wife, children and grandchildren. We all miss him so very much. There is a distinct void now that can only be filled with memories and the gentle healing of time.

At his request, there will be no public service. A celebration of Charles' life will be held by his family in July.

Memorial donations may be directed to support the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra (founded by Charles) and the Charles W. Warren Collection in care of: RIT College of Liberal Arts, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623 or via rit.edu/giving/charleswarren.

To share a memory of Charles or send a condolence to the family, visit www.anthonychapels.com