Emerson passed away peacefully in his “home” at Princess Court Saturday, January 25, 2003, with his loving wife and youngest daughter at his side. Emerson was born in South Branch, New Brunswick on Nov. 10, 1928 to Edith and Taylor Warren. He grew up close to his 3 sisters and baby brother; usually getting into his fair share of mischief. He attended school in South Branch until the eighth grade, always excelling in math. At the age of 12, Emerson started driving the “cart horse” at the sawmill for his Uncle Tom. During the late ‘40’s he worked at a ‘Spool Mill’ cutting white birch for 5 or 6 seasons. In the 50’s the mill was relocated to Chipman, NB, which Dad continued to work at for most of the decade. It was in 1952 that he met Olive Little on a double date; she was his friend’s date. Needless to say he liked his friend’s date better than his own. Emerson and Olive married a year later, on October 15, 1953. They started their large family right away, having 5 girls and a son. If that wasn’t enough to raise, they brought Olive’s nephew home when he was a few days old, legally adopting him for his 13th birthday. Dad and Mom took their first trip out west in 1957 to Pincher Creek, Alberta. They worked on his Uncle Clarence’s ranch for a few months and headed back to New Brunswick. In the early 60’s he took on private contracts cutting bush for various people, while still maintaining a family farm. In 1966, with not a lot of work in New Brunswick, Emerson moved his family to the town of Dryden. He went to work right away for Dryden Paper as a Woodcutter, and remained with them throughout the many changes. Living in a few small rental houses for a year, they were finally able to purchase a home on Meadows Road in Barclay. In 1969, they added to their family again by raising their granddaughter as their own. The family was very close adding sons-in-law and grandchildren in the 70’s. Then tragedy struck the family in 1981 when their son Marvin was killed in a car accident. It was a couple of years later that Dad’s health started to fail with the start of ‘mini’ strokes. This brought on an early ‘retirement’ because he was forced to go on long-term disability. With Dad not being able to work, Mom and Dad became even closer. They were able to do more traveling and visiting family and friends in the east and west. They enjoyed going to their weekly crib parties and playing cards at home. Dad woke Mom every morning with, “Olive, your tea’s ready and I’ve got the crib board out.” In 1989 Dad had his first headache, which landed him in Thunder Bay with an aneurysm. This was the beginning of his Alzheimer’s disease. A lot of good years went by for him after he beat that. Dad bought himself a video camera and started making tapes for a hobby. He would tape horse-hauling shows in New Brunswick and then make videotapes of them for family and friends. Dad was quite close to his sisters-in-law in New Brunswick. He was always ready with a little joke, his Newfie music and a few beers. Talking was never one of Dad’s strong suits, but when he did speak up, it was either a great piece of advice or something comical. Anyone who knows him knew how good he was with words on paper, so in 1992, Dad made a video for all of us kids and wrote a poem about his family and grandchildren. Dad took another dream vacation in February of 1994. Raymond and Colette drove him down to Florida and Texas for two weeks. They had a hard time catching up to him down there. The summer of 1999 was the hardest. Mom had to finally put Dad in the hospital. His Alzheimer’s had progressed too far for her to take care of him anymore. In November of 1999 Dad had to go to Kenora to live at Pinecrest. This was even harder on Dad, Mom and all of the family. Finally in August of 2000, with the completion of our new Extended Care Home, we were able to get Dad back home to Dryden. Dad made Princess Court his home from then until he drew his last breath. The nurses at Princess Court made it so much easier for the family. He was loved and taken excellent care of there. Dad always had a smile, a hug and maybe even a kiss for each of the girls. He really loved all of them. Emerson is survived by his loving wife Olive of 49 years; 5 daughters- Wanetta Cave (Dwight) of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta; Sheila Warren (Steve) of Dryden, ON; Lorraine Matchett (Doug) of Medicine Hat, Albert; Penny Asselin of Thunder Bay, ON; Della Soderstrom (Todd) of Atikokan, ON; and Eileen Williams (Brian) of Dryden, ON. He is survived by one son; Raymond Warren (Colette) of Dryden, ON and two sons-in-law; John Selman of Kamloops, BC and Albert Asselin of Atikokan, ON. He is also survived by his brother Graham Warren (Ruth) of Dryden, ON (with whom he has always had a close bond); three sisters; Irma Robertson (Herb) of South Branch, NB; Jean Johnson (Charlie) of McDougall Settlement, NB; and Betty Harnett (David) of South Branch, NB. Emerson has 16 grandchildren; Stacey Nygaard, Glenna Selman , Draper (D.J.) Selman, Dawn Warren, Lorrie Warren, Percy Warren, Amanda Matchett, Marvin Warren, Ashley Warren, Melodie Asselin, Blaire Asselin, Crystal Soderstrom, Bobbi Gillcash, Kaila Soderstrom, Landyn Warren, and Dylon Warren; two step-grandchildren; Kevin and Michelle Williams, 13 great-grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Emerson was predeceased by his father Taylor in 1965, his mother Edith in 1972, and his son Marvin in 1981. In keeping with Emerson’s wishes, his honorary pallbearers are: Wanetta, Sheila, Lorraine, Penny, Della and Eileen: his six daughters. There will be no visitation as cremation has taken place. Funeral Service for the late Emerson Warren will be held Saturday February 1, 2003 at St. Luke’s Anglican Church at 2:00 pm with Reverend Bruce Miles officiating, a luncheon will follow at the Royal Canadian Legion Club room. If friends so desire, In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Society or Princess Court through the Dryden Community Funeral Home, 249 Grand Trunk Ave., Dryden, ON P8N 2X3.
