Nancy Elizabeth Meader Warren

On March 9, 2019, Nancy Elizabeth Meader Warren passed away peacefully at home in Spring Valley, California in the company of her adult children and granddaughter. She was 86 years old.

Nancy was born on April 2, 1932 in San Francisco to Wayland Taft Meader and Isabel Louise Bachelder Meader. She grew up in Hayward, attended Brett Harte Intermediate School and graduated from Hayward Senior High School in 1948. She was a member of the Order of Jobs Daughters.

Nancy married Robert Taulbee Warren, son of Ralph I. Warren and Anna Isabel Taulbee Warren, in Castro Valley on May 22, 1954. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2014 in Spring Valley with a big party surrounded by family and friends. They raised four children, Dawn, Laurel, Annette and David.

Nancy and Bob lived in many places. Bob was in the Marine Corps and the family moved often as the military reassigned Bob every three years or so to a different base. They lived in California, Virginia, Hawaii, North Carolina, Oregon and Arizona. Nancy and Bob also loved to travel, and they took several trips to the UK, Europe, Mexico and South America.

Nancy was a tall, stunningly beautiful woman. Always the free spirit, Nancy was unconventional, non-conformist and liberal minded; she was well ahead of her time. In addition, she was extremely intelligent, well-liked by her friends, loved to entertain and was the life of a party! Nancy was also a talented artist. Her watercolor paintings dotted hers and her family’s homes from end to end and were admired not only by friends and family, but also by people who came over. She was an avid reader and enjoyed gardening (pulling weeds), playing the piano, crossword puzzles, music, tennis, bowling and dancing. While living in Eureka, Nancy was a cuer at round dance parties, and she and her husband were round dance instructors.

Nancy volunteered her time for the Navy Relief Society at MCAS Kaneohe Hawaii, MCAS Cherry Point North Carolina and MCAS El Toro California. She was also involved in other social activities, such as ceramics classes, water aerobics, and flower arranging classes, to name a few.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband, Bob, who died in February 2018. She is survived by her brother, Robert Douglas Meader and wife Patricia (Bolles) Meader of Cool, California, her four children, Dawn Warren Wright of East Falmouth, Massachusetts, Laurel Elizabeth Warren and Annette Isabel Warren of Spring Valley, David Ralph Warren and wife, Winnita Kay (Hosler)Warren of San Diego, and her grandchildren, Rae Ellen (Petenes) Crawley and husband Clayton Crawley of Santa Rosa, Brian Christopher Wright of East Falmouth, Massachusetts, and Tyler David Warren of Arlington, Virginia. She is also survived by Triston Bennett Crawley (Rae and Clay) of Santa Rosa. She leaves behind several cousins (including Caroline Sammons and Cynthia Waldman of The Villages, Florida) and many nieces, nephews, and loving friends.

A memorial service and a Celebration of Life will be held for both Bob and Nancy Warren on August 31, 2019 in Eureka. They will be interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Arcata, where many other Warren family members were laid to rest.

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Robert Taulbee Warren

Robert (“Bob”) Taulbee Warren passed away peacefully on February 20, 2018 at age 91.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Rae Warren McDavid, his parents, Anna Isabel Taulbee Warren and Ralph I. Warren and his grandparents, Elizabeth Kerr Beith Warren and John Parker Warren (a pioneer of Warren Creek, Humboldt Co., California).

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Nancy Meader Warren (who recently passed this year in March), his children, Dawn Warren Wright, Laurel Elizabeth Warren, Annette Isabel Warren and David Ralph Warren, daughter in law, Winnita Kay Warren, grandchildren, Rae Ellen Petenes Crawley, her husband Clay, Brian Christopher Wright and Tyler David Warren, as well as nieces, nephews and many other loving relatives and friends.

A native of California, Bob was born on October 20, 1926, in Fresno, and spent his childhood in Sacramento and in the community of Carmichael 15 miles east of Sacramento. He attended Carmichael Grammar School and San Juan High School until his junior year when he was enrolled at the New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, New Mexico. He graduated in June 1945.

When Bob returned home, the Second World War was still in process. He went to San Francisco with his father where he was introduced to the Shipping Master of the American President Line who helped Bob get into the Sailor’s Union of the Pacific Seaman School. By April 1945 he was aboard the M/S Day Star and was in the battle for Okinawa. He continued to sail until April of 1947 concluding his last trip at sea onboard the S/S George D. Prentiss. One of Bob’s favorite stories to tell about this time was after the guns had been removed from the ship, the ammo lockers below deck were filled with beer. He said, “Like magic, our room every night received a cool case of beer when we came off watch. I believe all our ship officers got some too.” He traveled to Manila, Singapore, Madagascar, and Cape Town, South Africa, to name a few ports.

After WWII, Bob enlisted in the Marine Corps and completed basic training at the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Having been a bugler at the New Mexico Military Institute, his first assignment in the Marines was as a Field Musician, a bugler, and assigned to the guard house at MCRD. When he was in high school playing basketball, he took an elbow in the mouth, had two teeth loosened and the teeth had to be removed. One evening, while playing evening colors, his partial plate slipped out and, as Bob puts it, he “really screwed up.” The Base Commander was known to come out to watch the colors come down, and after Bob’s less than stellar performance, the phone rang almost immediately and the General wanted to know what happened to the colors. He was informed and the following morning Bob was ordered to the dentist to have a permanent bridge installed.

Bob saw action in the Korean War and was injured while transporting communication lines to new battalion location. While standing on the trace of the caisson and hanging onto the tailgate of a truck, the truck struck two landmines—the right rear tire of the truck and the right tire of the caisson — with Bob standing in the middle of the two explosions. For his service in Korea, he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Navy’s Presidential Unit Citation, the Korean Service Medal, the UN Service Medal, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.

While in the Marine Corps, Bob and his family lived in Southern California when Bob was assigned to the bases at El Toro and Camp Pendleton. The family moved to Virginia while Bob completed officer’s training school in Quantico, and moved across country several times during Bob’s military career. His last and, per Bob, his “sweetest assignment” was when he was appointed as the Exchange Officer at Camp Pendleton and promoted to Major in February 1974. He supervised 47 Marines and over 800 civilian employees. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps on September 1, 1975.

Upon retirement, Bob and family moved to Eureka, where Bob worked as the RV sales manager for Mid-City Motor World, as a supervisor for the Humboldt Transit Authority assisting in creating the bus routes and purchasing the busses, and one of his most rewarding positions, as the Naval Science Instructor, Naval Junior ROTC, at Eureka Senior High School. He was well liked by his students who lovingly referred to him as “The Maj.” Bob and Nancy were involved in the local Humboldt County square dance clubs. They enjoyed it so much that they ended up taking dance classes and even converted their four-car garage into a dance studio where they taught basic round dancing lessons for many years.

Bob and Nancy spent many years living in Southern California and in the Mesa, Arizona, before coming back to live in the San Diego area. They loved to travel and took several trips to Europe and to Mexico and South America. Bob was an avid golfer, loved playing tennis, bowling, pencil drawing, among other hobbies and past-times. However, his best memories were spent with family and friends playing games or just sitting around reminiscing.

Bob will be forever remembered by his family and friends for his sense of adventure and good humor. A graveside service is to be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Arcata on August 31, 2019 at noon. A Celebration of Life will follow at the Red Lion Inn in Eureka.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Bob and Nancy Warren’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.