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Obituaries » Thomas R. Warnick

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August 22, 1930 - April 16, 2019

Tom Warnick’s cremains will be interred at the Fort Custer National Cemetery. Private Services including Military Honors will occur on Friday April 26, 2019. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, a gift be made in Tom’s name to the National Kidney Foundation.

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Thomas “Tom” Raymond Warnick, 88, passed peacefully at Rose Arbor Hospice in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Doris Warnick of Kalamazoo; his

daughters, Erin Warnick of Carmel, IN, Katherine Warnick (Charles Prentiss) of Orlando, FL; his grandchildren, Derek Warnick (Shikha Warnick) of Natick, MA, Amanda Warnick of Walnut Creek, CA, Evan Warnick of Midland, TX, and Megan Warnick of Austin, TX; his great-grandsons, Rohin and Ravi, children of Derek and Shikha.

The second oldest child and the oldest son of the ten children of Clarence and Margaret Warnick, he is also survived by his sisters; Margaret “Peg” Chambers of Winter Park, FL; and Carolyn Thomson of Churchville, MD; his brothers; HarryWarnick of Mt. Storm, WV, Richard “Dick” Warnick of New Creek, WV, and Ralph Warnick of New Creek, WV; their spouses and significant others. His sister-in-law, Joyce Warnick of Oakland, MD. His daughter-in-law, Nancy Warnick of Marietta, GA. His cousin, Bill Warnick of Keyser, WV; many nieces and nephews throughout the USA.

Tom is predeceased by his parents; Clarence Raymond and Margaret Elizabeth Warnick of Mt. Storm, WV; his son Stanley “Stan” Warnick of Marietta, GA; his sisters Betty Warnick of Morgantown, WV, and Emma “Sis” White of Bedford, OH; his brothers; Donald Warnick of Oakland, MD, and Ronald Warnick of Ravenna, OH.

Tom retired from the US Army as a Command Sergeant Major in 1975 and moved his family to Kalamazoo. During his 27-year career, he was stationed throughout the world including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand. Tom was involved in helping the Dutch to rebuild the dikes after their collapse in the North Sea Flood of 1953. He met the love of his life, Doris Mohrbacher, in Germany in the early 50s. They were married in Germany. Doris moved to the United States and became a naturalized US citizen. She gave birth to three children in Virginia and the family traveled between Europe and the United States for the following twenty years. During his time in the US Army, he had two tours in Vietnam, one in Thailand, and prior to meeting Doris, he was also stationed in Korea.

Tom loved his family dearly and traveled extensively throughout the United States taking vacations and showing his children the wonders of this great country! Extensive travel in Europe gave his children the ability of seeing many cultures and appreciating the many people encountered.

As both Tom and Doris never had the opportunity in their lives to attend an institution of higher learning, it was their primary goal to ensure that their children could. All their children and grandchildren graduated from Ivy League and high caliber public universities, and the youngest granddaughter is enrolled in college and intends to graduate with a BS, in Nursing and become a Registered Nurse.

Upon retiring to Kalamazoo, Tom was hired by the City of Portage and eventually became the Foreman of the Portage Water Department. He developed lifelong friendships which continued until his recent passing. His interests included fixing or building mechanical and electrical items, as well as caring for his pool. He loved his family, traveling, pancakes, fluffy cheesy scrambled eggs, and crispy bacon. He abhorred spinach and politics, in that order.

He will be dearly missed by both family and friends. Thanks for teaching us right from wrong; that if you decide to do something, do it right the first time or don’t bother doing it at all; and finally to have the compassion to recognize that when somebody needs help, you can always be there to assist them.