Funeral for our friend,Warren Hall..

[bigchillcar]

everyone...if a man was to have a funeral, god couldn't have picked a more beautiful day than yesterday. the sun was shining, very light wind and the temperature outside just shy of 70 degrees. perfect..

kurt valentine drove down from jefferson city, mo, to my home the night before. i cooked us a meal and we crashed early to get up at 6 am to get ready for the 3 hour drive to mount pleasant, tx. as it turned out, we met mark wilson at the funeral home within minutes of each other..warren would have approved of our nearly perfect 'timing'. bob aines (boba) followed mark from dallas as well.

what mark did for warren, and equally important for his sister pat..and their extended family at large simply cannot be put into words. he opened up his heart and gave a glowing, warm tribute to warren at the funeral very fitting for a very remarkable man. i'll leave it to mark to provide the additional details of warren's life, as he's earned the privilege to share with us those parts of warren unknown to the rest of us, but shared first-hand to mark and to those of us at the funeral itself.

before the funeral, family had prepared food for everyone and we were able to meet them personally prior to the service in an adjacent building reserved for such affairs. the funeral itself was in a very small church, 'bethel chapel', that could possibly hold 100 people, and those in attendance were his extended family, a couple friends..and five of us representing his 'extended pelican family'. ned, another pelican (racking my brain for his screen name..he'll have to chime in) from nearby pittsburgh, tx, i believe it was, also attended.

warren's very sweet sister, pat..is simply devastated by the loss of her dear brother. it was a privilege to have had the opportunity to meet her and to listen to her speak for about an hour of her childhood days with warren - they were fewer than two years apart in age. warren was quite the prodigy..apparently reading at the comprehension level by age two, could fix anything, built model rockets at times 'manned' by either a live frog or hamster named 'snoopy' that he and his sister had had a vet carefully implant wires as a means for monitoring 'vital signs'. apparently, warren intended to get someone into space back in the early sixties if the united states space program wasn't going to get things moving along fast enough to suit him!

pat also took a great deal of time to try and find the words to express just how much your acts of kindness, in trying to save his life through your prayers and donations to his cause, meant to him. mark wilson had visited warren in the hospital on several occasions, and although he labored for breath and in such pain, mark's donation of the use of a laptop with a wireless connection meant that warren last day's were spent filled with HOPE and in the presence of a great out-pouring of love from those of us who extended our hearts out to him. he read every single post we made - every single one - up until his final hour. he was fully aware of the magnificent outpouring of affection and effort, and pat believes it amounted unbelievably to giving warren a sense of peace, helping to put his amazing life into perspective as evidenced by the broad groupings, countless numbers his mind reached. the humble, amazing genius of a man was simply moved beyond measure. you did a wonderful thing for a very, very, very deserving man in warren hall. his sister, his family, all want you to know it..and mark wilson will be providing more of the same in finer detail. what a job mark did in coordinating this effort, seeing it through to the very best of his ability, and again for his warm tribute..

after the service, which included remarks from other family members, singing of beautiful, familiar hymns..to include several vocal solos - a capella - from a member of his family, we caravaned the short distance to the grave side service. another solo, this time, 'amazing grace', was quite fitting. pat requested some time alone with her brother, so the rest of us returned to our cars, met up with her later and said our final goodbyes to one another.

this pelican community may very legitimately call itself now a member of warren's 'extended family'..and ought to be very proud. it was impossible not to look into the eyes of his grateful family, his sister, and not be moved by their expressions of joy and gratitude for the offerings by the so many of us who were committed to his cause. was it a day to be proud to call yourself a pelican in helping this wonderful family to celebrate the LIFE of warren hall, jr.? oh yes..yes it was..

i'll attach what pics i took with my camera phone. i apologize for their quality. i think mark's camera will later reveal some things with more clarity..

kurt shortly after his arrival at my home, seated in my kitchen, having a bourbon while i cook..


me cooking..


hitting the road, riding in kurt's beautiful red '86 911.


gassing up, still on the way in east texas..

[bigchillcar]

mark's 'ginger' outside of bethel chapel..


our friend, warren hall, jr....


following mark on the way to the grave side service..


another..


cloudy shot of boba (bob aines) behind us..


at the cemetary..bob and ned in the foreground..


cars just before leaving cemetery to drive home..


'ghostly' shot of kurt after we'd returned back to little rock in the evening. he had to be in st. louis today, so had to leave immediately after dropping me off..


final picture of me by the bigchillcar, which didn't have the pleasure of making the drive..


again..sorry these pics are so terrible. they just don't tell the story well enough, but they're all i have. i'm no photographer.

[livi]

Sounds beautiful. I wish I could have been there. I never met Warren or any other American Pelican. I live across a big ocean. I don´t even speak your language properly. Still I feel attached and engaged. This great community is an extended long distance family.

The joint heart and soul of Pelican is beyond comprehension. You guys are fantastic.

[Moneyguy1]

Markus..If you speak as well as you write, you have no problem!!

I never met Warren but I urge those of you who knew him to occasionally look in on his family. Friends tend to dissolve into the woodwork after a few months, and that is when they are needed the most (after the initial shock is gone). Ask me how I know.....

[motion]

Wonderful, wonderful writeup of the funeral. Thank you.

[RickM]

Thank you for a summary of what went on at Warren's funeral.

...and the pics are great.

[futuresoptions]

Originally Posted by RickM

Thank you for a summary of what went on at Warren's funeral.

...and the pics are great.

+1.......Thanks......

Ryan,
Beautifully done, thank you so much for telling the story. Pat is fortunate to live close to so many family members. I'm sure they will help her through this difficult time. One of the things I found interesting in my short time with the family was how genuine, friendly and kind they all are. Getting to know them told me volumes about Warren. You can all rest assured, he was the real deal.

The service was truly beautiful. Warren's cousin David officiated and another cousin David led all of the hymns. A few of us told what he meant to us. I was honored to be able to speak for the board and in doing, made sure his family knew how much he was loved here and how much he will be missed.

Pat wants everyone here to know how much she appreciates all of the generosty and kindness that came from Warren's on line family. As Ryan said, after he got the laptop he watched Pelican every day while in the hospital. All of the comments, get well messages and donations let him know just how much he was respected and appreciated.

I am so grateful to have been able to meet Kurt, Ryan and Ned and that Bob made the drive. I know that meant the world to his family.

It struck me standing outside the church how much the setting reminded me of the opening scene in The Big Chill. It was fitting that we had bigchillcar there in person. As a tribute to Warren, Pat asked to ride in a Porsche to and from the cemetary instead of the limo. On the way to the car, I asked her if she had seen the movie and she said yes and laughed out loud when she realized it too.

Here are a few pictures of Warren's on line family.

[Don Plumley]

Well Done gentlemen. Couldn't have asked for better representation of our community.

[CurtEgerer]

Nice work boys. First class.

[ZOA NOM]

We couldn't have asked for better representation. This is a special place, and I'm proud to be associated with you guys. I don't think any of us realizes just how much we meant to Pat, and to Warren at the end. Thanks again.

[Z-man]

Wow. I am without words. You guys redefine what it means to be in the presence of nobility.

-Zoltan.

[speeder]

You guys really did us proud! I wish I'd known that Warren was reading the board up until the end, I would have let him know how much he meant to me personally. I was of the mistaken belief that there was a little more time to come up with a proper donation, so I did not get one in on time.

He was a very low-key gentleman, first-class all the way IMO, and he did not reveal much in the way of personal stuff on the board but every once in a while a little something would slip through and it was always gold. I'll never forget when he showed approval somehow of something I'd written and I felt 10 feet tall!

I remember when he got married a couple years ago(?), was she no longer in the picture? Sorry if this is not the right time to ask, but he was family around here. Thanks again Mark Wilson and all of you guys.

[bigchillcar]

it was truly a pleasure and a privilege..

[Fishcop]

Well done lads.

[livi]

Originally Posted by Moneyguy1

Markus..If you speak as well as you write, you have no problem!!

Thank you, Bob. I appreciate that very much.

[KFC911]

Beautifully done guys...thanks for sharing with us!

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by Don Plumley

Well Done gentlemen. Couldn't have asked for better representation of our community.

Yes. Thank you.

[rcm]

Originally Posted by KC911

Beautifully done guys...thanks for sharing with us!

+1
Thanks guys.

[techweenie]

Any of us would be supremely lucky to have a friend do what Mark Wilson did for Warren.

Thanks, Ryan, Kurt and Ned for representing us to family and loved ones.