Warren Grass
Warren Grass
Description: June 17, 1936 — Aug. 19, 2007
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Warren Grass, 71, died Aug. 19, 2007, following a courageous battle with cancer.
He was born June 17, 1936, in Sweetgrass, Mont., and attended schools in Great Falls, graduating from Great Falls High School. He attended Montana State University, and later graduated from Carbondate University in Illinois. He entered the Navy in 1957. His career in the Navy included 20 years as a photojournalist, retiring as a Chief. He did photo mine sweeping in Hyphong Harbor and the Suez Canal.
He met Helen Hughes (a “Laurel girl”) in 1957 and they were married on Nov. 23, 1957. During their marriage, they spent two and a half years in Yokohama, Japan, and five years in Norfolk, Va., where their daughter Leslie and son Dan were born.
This was followed by a three-year tour of Naples, Italy and finally San Diego, where he retired. During this time (1971-1976), he was deployed to the Philippines and Vietnam. Following retirement, the family lived in Tehachapi for 17 years. Warren and Helen returned to Montana in 1997, settling in Billings.
Warren sang with the Magic City Singers and had many interests, including fly fishing. He was an avid reader, particularly of history.
Warren Grass could only have been a sailor, and embodied that calling down to his keel. He was at home in any port, in any country and able to stand on life’s pitching decks with the stance of a man who is comfortable in his own skin and doesn’t feel inclined to change course just to find calmer seas.
He could navigate the vernacular of polite society or drink wine and swear like a peasant with equal eloquence — although he probably found conversation with the latter to be the more honest of the two.
But it was the big grin that said it all. A huge, genuine, from-the-bottom-of-the-soul kind of grin that was the mark of a man who was kind to the core, who could counter your point with a wickedly subtle irony, who loved his family, and who saw life and the world as one big oyster to be relished with pleasure, right down to the last, delicious drop of briny nectar.
Warren is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Helen; son Dan (Xavreia), of Tehachapi; daughter Leslie Brown, of Billings; a sister, Julie Armstrong, of Vancouver, Wash.; grandchildren Megan Mulder, of Bakersfield, Garrett Mulder, of Billings, Casey and Ben Grass and Josiah Jones, of Tehachapi, and Betsy Brown, of Billings; two nephews, John (Jennie) Waggoner and Jay (Marge) Westermark; and two nieces, Mary Jane Westermark and Phyllis Sprunger. Warren was preceded in death by his mother, Nell Grass; father Ralph Grass; and sisters Jane Westermark and Bess Waggoner.
A memorial service celebrating Warren’s life will be held on Monday, Sept. 10, at 2 p.m., at the New Life Foursquare Church, 213 First Ave., in Laurel.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Big Sky Hospice, the American Cancer Society, or a charity of choice.
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