Warren Bruce Buford II

Warren Bruce Buford II, 88, passed away peacefully in the wonderful care of the Veterans

Administration (VA) Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. He moved there in recent

months due to dementia-related health challenges after living for forty years in Greensboro,

North Carolina, where he called home.

With this move to the VA and to Salisbury, Warren came full circle with two formative life

experiences over sixty years ago: serving as a U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Officer, stationed

in Germany, in the 1950s, and becoming a first-time teacher in the early 1960’s, the origins of

what would become a fulfilling career in education and during which he was awarded Salisbury

High School Teacher of the Year.

These early professional endeavors were lifelong sources of pride and subjects of many

evocative stories. In these, and other personal and professional pursuits later in life, Warren

shared his expansive intellect, keen analytical insight, and sharp inquisitiveness all coupled with

vigorous curiosity and creativity and a robust sense of humor.

Born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia to Ann Harris and Bruce Buford, Warren cherished his

parents and their values and was proud to be part of an accomplished, service-minded extended

family with whom he enjoyed fun gatherings over the years, especially Thanksgiving lunches.

At a young age, he endured rheumatic fever, prompting a move with his mother to Florida before

returning to Roanoke and boarding school in West Virginia.

He attended Davidson College for two years before his father’s sudden passing in 1955. This

had a profound impact on him as an only child. After the Army, he matriculated at Roanoke

College, his alma mater. Family was important to Warren. As a father, he tried to impart the

importance for lineage and familial values; as a son, he cared deeply for his mother.

His education in the liberal arts had a lasting impact and he would go on to obtain an Ed.D from

the School of Education at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Academia would

become the arena where he shined, where he thrived as a scholar, teacher, and activist, and where

he made great friends. Through his work in education in the 1970’s, he launched humanities and

experiential learning programs, advocated for civil rights, school desegregation in South

Carolina, and became a scholarly voice in the child advocacy and mental health movement in

North Carolina.

In good health, he read voraciously and wrote skillfully, co-authored a few books, collected

hundreds more, and was always composing some work of fiction and non-fiction on legal pads or

in his head. Warren loved learning and discourse, enjoyed leading Sunday School and classroom

discussions, and coffee hours with friends or jousting with fellow customers at the barber shop

on Battleground. He was a legend of a storyteller, with an outsized imagination that could be

bewildering and, at times, even beguiling, yet was always entertaining and memorable.

As a gifted teacher, he would use a method of asking questions and storytelling to uncover

knowledge and ideas that would help others reach their potential. This ability served him well as

a strategic planning and business development consultant, which he pursued for about a decade

before retiring to odd jobs, volunteerism in ministry, and a quieter life, holding court at Gateway

Plaza, Abbotswood and Brighton Gardens.

Through the good and tempestuous times, he would lean on his faith and spirituality, formed by

family and his own study and reflection, and buttressed by First Presbyterian Church of

Greensboro, where he was an active leader and member for many years. He had an impressive,

booming singing voice and loved hymns and gospel music.

He believed that God’s persistent and faithful love sustained him, and he worked on fulfilling the

teaching of Proverbs 3: 5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own

understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Though

his path was not always straight, he tried to be led by the Spirit.

He is survived by his five children Mark (Virginia) of Columbia, SC, Karen (Joey) of Garner,

NC, Ann of Chapin, SC, Warren (Ashley) of Charlottesville, VA, and Mary (Brian) of Missoula,

MT; ten grandchildren who called him “Poppi,” Spencer, Anna, Jaynie, Connor, Jack, Emily,

Max, James, Mia, Susannah; and four great grandchildren, Liam, Zoey, Davis and Lee. In them,

his and the family legacy lives on, and that big bright beautiful smile of his radiates ever more.

To honor Warren, the family encourages donations to the Saydie Bowles Fund at First

Presbyterian Church, which provided invaluable and incredible support to him over many years.

Checks payable to First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro – memo for the Sadye Bowles Fund,

617 N. Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27408.

There will be an inurnment at 1:30pm, a service at 2:00pm and reception afterwards at First

Presbyterian Church Chapel on Friday, February 16, 2024.