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William Leonard Warner ’47

A picture of William Warner

William Leonard Warner ’47, August 27, 2014, in Florence, Oregon. Bill entered Reed in 1941, transferring from the University of Portland, and was called into active duty during World War II. He began naval training in 1943 at the Midshipman School at Columbia University, was commissioned an ensign in February 1944, and taught at Columbia until October that year. He was then assigned to the U.S.S. Spica in the Pacific as a deck officer, and after the war navigated the U.S.S. Manderson Victory from Puget Sound to Philadelphia. In 1946, he returned to Reed and completed a BA in economics, after which he worked for a year for Procter & Gamble in Portland. In 1948–50, he studied public administration at American University and worked in the management improvement group for President Truman’s budget bureau. Next, Bill moved to Modesto, California, working as a stockbroker and an allied member of New York Stock Exchange. He was an instructor in banking and investment for 17 years for the evening school of Modesto Junior College. He also worked for Dean Witter Reynolds, retiring as vice president in 1990, at which time he moved to Oregon. Bill and his wife, Ann, partnered the Winchester Bay Trading Company on the Oregon coast, selling gifts, books, and collectibles. Additionally, he was a broker with Brookstreet Securities Company, was active in the local community through a variety of projects and interests, and enjoyed fishing and gardening. With Heidi L. Hovgaard ’50, whom he married in 1946, he had three sons, Douglas, Robert, and Richard, who survive him, as do Ann and his five grandchildren. “The Honor Principle gave me a pride of place and participation which surpassed any other ethical or religious value I have,” Bill said. “I lived the F.L. Griffin credo: Four years of college can provide a beginning, but you must practice lifetime learning to finish the (endless) job.”

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2015

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