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In the 2003 issue of the Airway Pioneer Annual, there was an article entitled “A Conversation with Lee Warren”. In that article Lee Warren talked about the Air Traffic Control system from its beginning in 1935 until his retirement from the FAA in 1972. He WAS THERE at the beginning of air traffic control and he was the last of the original persons that operated the system at its beginning. Lee was an aviation pioneer in every sense of the word. On December 15, 2003, Lee Warren died at his home in Sun City, Arizona, just two weeks after his 92nd birthday. He was born in Burnham, Missouri (near West Plains, Missouri and the Mark Twain National Forest) on November 24, 1911. Lee’s wife preceded him in death more than 20 years ago. He had no children, no siblings and no known living immediate relative.
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When the Federal Aviation Agency was formed in 1958, each Washington Office Air Traffic Division had an Air Force Colonel assigned to the Division as Deputy Division Chief. Lee was the Chief of the ATC Evaluation Division. He really enjoyed this position because it offer him an opportunity to do a lot of flying and an opportunity for he and his staff to evaluate a system he had seen grow up from the beginning. He always stated that he wanted to accomplish an evaluation of the Air Traffic Control system from the user’s viewpoint. The military input offered the Evaluation Division access to T-33 jet aircraft so that the air traffic control system could be evaluated at all altitude levels used by any commercial or military aircraft. This type of system evaluation had never been done before. And Lee very effectively accomplished his mission.
In addition to his career in the Air Traffic Control system, Lee had many other things that he loved. He was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and hunting. Two of his fishing and hunting buddies were Warren Lee and Dave Jones. Lee Warren was a great story teller. He would tell a story that wasn’t very funny, but when he told it, the story was hilarious. One of the stories he enjoyed telling was when he and Warren Lee confused the immigration man when reentering the USA from a foreign trip. He would sign his entrance paper as Lee Warren and at the same time Warren Lee would submit his immigration paper. The immigration person knew that one of them had not signed the immigration paper correctly -- but which one? When Lee Warren told that story, it was like the old Abbot & Costello baseball story – Who’s on first .....? . Another incident was when he called Dave Jones and asked him to go fishing with him in Mexico. Dave Jones jumped at the opportunity and immediately got his sleeping bag, put on his grubby fishing clothes and headed for a good outdoor, in the wild fishing experience. But, when he met Lee he was astonished to see him in a suit, tie and shiny shoes with reservations in hand at a fine first class hotel. Lee then announced that the next day they would go deep sea fishing. The only change of clothes Dave Jones had was more out in the wild back wools fishing clothes while Lee looked like a fine gentleman in a handsome suit, starched white shirt and tie. Anyone who knew Lee Warren very well probably has a dozen or more stories to tell about him. He was a fun loving guy who had many friends.
Lee spent his adult life loving to fly and he was an excellent pilot. He owned a Beechcraft Bonanza, on which he put many flight hours, and he valued it with great pride. He was a QB and a devoted member of that pilot’s organization. And he was an avid boating fan. When he retired from the FAA he moved to Page, Arizona. He hadn’t been living in Page very long before he convinced Jack Hilton to move there also. Lee and his wife, Pat, and Jack and his wife, Audrey, were constant companions. A little later
when Lee bought a home in Sun City, the Beech Bonanza made many trips to and from Page. Lee truly loved Page, Arizona and the companionship that existed between Pat & Lee and Audrey & Jack Hilton.
We will miss Lee very much and chances are we will never meet another man like Lee Warren. He was one of a kind. And he will be remembered for years to come for his accomplishments as one of the founders of the Air Traffic Control system, as a Government Executive, and as a wonderful human being. May he rest in peace.
(Written by Robert Gale #2110)
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