Warren F. Stewart 1961-2007

I met Warren in the Spring of 1978, when I was a sophomore at Bishop Egan High School, in the old Torvian yearbook office. At that time, I had been involved in the Drama Club, CSC, and a few other clubs, but I was just a 15 year old kid with no particular ambitions, flying under the radar of the attention received by the more popular and well-known kids.

Warren, along with Marty Bergen, had just been named as Editor-in-Chief of the 1979 yearbook, and was prepping the office for its takeover by the new administration; my sophomore classmate, Joe, introduced me to Warren, and right away I could tell that Warren was not your typical high-school student. He was amazingly worldly and intelligent, and possessed an incredibly sharp and acerbic wit.

It should be mentioned that I was a “techie” – a student who attended both BEHS and Bucks County Technical School across the street. At that time, the stereotypical profile of a “techie” was of burn-out of below average smarts, of someone facing a future in the trades and making a living with their hands, and someone certainly not capable of gaining admission to a 4-year college. Upon learning that I was a “techie”, at first Warren believed that I must meet that profile, but as I spent more and more time in that Torvian office with Warren, he was able to see that I was not your typical “techie”, and he grew to appreciate my own worldliness, intelligence and wit. Although Warren used to joke with me many times about my being a “techie”, he also inspired me to go beyond the “techie” stereotype, to become a valuable contributor not just to the yearbook but to life at BEHS as well.

In the Fall of 1978, Warren named me as the Art Editor (and pet “techie”) for the 1979 yearbook; I worked closely with Warren to help deliver a quality yearbook (those are my Egan eagle drawings at the beginning of the different sections of the yearbook…) and I was eventually nominated in the Spring of 1979 by Warren to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of 1980 Torvian. Thanks to Warren’s ability to see past the “techie” stereotype, I was able to co-chief, with my friend Roger, the 1980 Torvian. I even took over Warren’s job at the Bucks County Free Library when he left for school at Penn in September 1979. I eventually graduated from LaSalle University in 1984 with a degree in Computer Science.

I learned so much from Warren, whether it was joining him in a protest after Spirit Day 1979 outside of the Courier Times offices on Route 13 after a scathing article was written about rampant drug use at BEHS, or journeying to Valley Forge Military Academy to better our journalism skills at the annual Press Day, or even attending an Elvis Costello concert at the Tower Theater on a Saturday night with Warren, Joe, Ed, Gina, Susan and a mob of other friends. It is strange to imagine, but I can say with certainty that my own life would have turned out very differently had I never met Warren Stewart.

The last time I saw Warren was in the summer of 1981. Jbubs moved away with his family to Chicago in the summer of 1979 (at one going-away party for Joe, Warren let me wear his gila-monster costume, as seen in the top right photo on page 86 of the 1978 Torvian) but had returned to visit two years later, and we paid a surprise visit to Warren at his family home in Thornridge. We sat with his Dad on his living room couch watching ‘Jeopardy’ on the television, but before long we had to leave. I’ve thought about Warren many times since those BEHS days, and often wondered where his life took him. Now I know, and I wish we had remained in touch. I am truly saddened to learn of Warren’s health struggles and untimely death, and I’m now finding myself thinking about his memory and missing him more than ever. My prayers go out to Warren’s family and friends.

Warren’s Grave Site
A Warren Memorial Blog
A Warren Photo Album

Jon Mullane’s column in The Courier Times