Barbara Dell Warren

Barbara Dell Warren, age 95, of Houston, Texas passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, October 2, 2022. Barbara was born November 11, 1926 to parents Roscoe and Ola Craig. She was one of seven and loved all her siblings deeply.

Mrs. Barbara Warren has joined her husband, George Don Warren and son, Ralph Lynn Warren in their heavenly home. Barbara was a devoted wife for 56 years; standing by her husband until he went home to be with the Lord in December 2001. Together, they raised five children. Barbara and Don spent their entire adult lives serving the Lord as pastor of several churches in Texas and 40 years as missionaries in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Saltillo, Mexico as well as in Uruapan, Michoacán. When they would make the long trips to preach revivals and travel to Mexico, Barbara would stay awake to keep Don full of hot coffee. Later on, she gave an account of why she did not sleep. Early on in their marriage the first time she fell asleep, there was a “minor” accident involving a pond. As a faithful servant and devoted wife she fulfilled that roll with love for her husband and our Lord and Savior. Her children are forever grateful that they were raised in a loving Christian home. Her laugh will be missed by all that knew her. Though tears will be shed at her loss, her family is comforted because of the reassurance of our Lord that we will meet again.

Barbara is preceded in death by her parents, Ola and Roscoe Craig and 5 of her siblings.

She is survived by her children Wayne Warren, Craig Warren (Sheila), Cynthia Thompson (Sean), Tanya Roberts (Jeff); 14 grand-children; 22 great- grandchildren; 1 great-great granddaughter; and her brother, Roscoe Craig.

Barbara loved going to the YMCA to bask in all the attention of being one of the oldest persons there. She worked out four or five times a week. Many of her YMCA exercise class would tell Mom she was their inspiration to keep going.

In 2001 when Daddy was no longer driving he wanted Mom to have a new car. He told Wayne to find her a car she would like. Wayne found the perfect 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis. Mom was always on the go and was so proud of her car. She put 112912 miles on this car over the next 20 years. She had a lead foot and always said that car would GO. Barbara was not happy when her neurologist and her children told her she could not drive. She told her children that she was going to take her checkbook, walk down to the nearest dealership, and buy herself a new car! When she was moved from her home into assisted living, she was also less than pleased. Thankfully though, she was able to enjoy driving and living in her own home until her mid-nineties. She was able to walk without assistance until July 13th 2022 when she became very ill.

In the late 90's before Daddy died Mom took care of him as he was quite ill with diabetes, heart problems, and just general ill health. Mom single handedly kept our Dad from going to a nursing home. She worked tirelessly keeping his wounds on his feet cleaned and doctored so that he would not lose his feet or legs. Dad would tell Mom "Honey don't spend all your time working on my feet just let them cut them off.” Mom told him no, as long as I'm here I am going to see to it that I do everything possible to take care of these feet and she did. One Dr. told her he was amazed that Dad's wounds healed the way they did. Daddy would always tell the Doctors how good Mom took care of him. He bragged on her every time he got the chance. Her children bragged on her as well because we knew if it weren't for her he would have had to go into nursing care. There were many incidents where he would fall and Mom would get a chair from the kitchen table and lay it beside our Dad so he had something he could push up on as she helped him get back up.

One incident occurred when Mom had to go to the grocery store there in Giddings. She got Dad situated in his recliner with his water, juice and snacks. She told him to sit tight and she would be back later. When she returned an hour or so later, he was not in his recliner. She called for him and looked all over the house trying to find him. It was a huge home built around a 14 X 80 ft mobile home (if you can believe that). There was an access in a hallway at the rear of the home to go under the mobile home portion for repairs to plumbing etc. While she was gone Dad got to thinking about termites and wondered if they might be getting into the home from the open area under the mobile home. He had removed the access panel and crawled under the mobile home with a flashlight to see if he could see any evidence of termites. When Mom finally found him he was stuck on his back and could not maneuver himself to get back out of his predicament. She chewed on him a bit for going under the mobile home and told him she had a pest control service that treated and monitored for bugs and termites. She then told Dad she was just going to put the access panel back on and leave him under the mobile home. She said she would leave him there and call authorities at some point and tell them she did not know what had happened to her husband. He had gone missing. I can just hear our Dad saying "Mother get me out of here". Of course, she figured out a way to get some cardboard and give him a slide area he could get on. Between her tugging and pulling, she got him out. In the end, Dad succumbed to his ailments but never had to be put in a nursing home because his wife, our Mother made many sacrifices to care for him.

As she was living alone, mom took a class and got her concealed handgun license in the late 90's. On one of her trips to see her Aunt Johnnie in Groesbeck, TX she was stopped by a Highway Patrolman near the town of Kosse, TX for doing 85 in a 55 mph zone. As the officer approached, she had both hands on the steering wheel and was giggling. The officer asked her why she was in such a hurry and she explained to him that her car was so smooth that she did not realize how fast she was going. Mom always liked to blame her car for her lead foot. He asked for her driver’s license and she told him she would get it out of her purse, which was in the passenger seat. She told him I need to let you know that I'm "packing" and my gun is on the seat next to my purse. He said that was fine. Mom got her driver’s license and concealed handgun license out and showed them to the officer. He smiled and told her to slow it down and did not ticket her. She carried that gun with her anytime she hit the road on a trip out of town and we have no doubt she would have used it if the situation warranted.

Another driving incident happened in Houston, TX. in 2016. Craig had retired and moved close to Mom. Sheila and Craig called Mom to go eat at one of her favorite Chinese food restaurants on Louetta road close to where she lived. They offered to pick her up but she said no, I can drive and I'll just meet you there. After the meal, we both left in our vehicles and started down Louetta Road back home. Mom zoomed passed us in the right lane in her Grand Marquis but we both had to stop side by side at a red light. Mom looked over at us while stopped at the light and grinned. When the light turned green all we heard were tires screeching. Mom burned rubber as she took off. I caught up with her and looked over at her. She was laughing aloud at that point.

A visitation for Barbara will be held Wednesday, October 12, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM at Brookside Funeral Home, 13747 Eastex Freeway, Houston, TX 77039. A funeral service will follow and begin promptly at 10:30 AM in the Grand Chapel at Brookside, followed by burial in Brookside Memorial Park.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.brooksidefuneralhomelauder.com for the Warren family.