Warren Ralph
HUSTED
b: Mar 21,
1920
pb: Youngsville, PA
m: Oct 3 1943
pm: Poughkeepsie, NY
divorced: 1967
m: Oct 18, 1968
pm: Tacoma WA
d: Dec 6, 2010
pd: Honolulu, HI
Warren was born to Howard
Herlbert HUSTED and Edith Lovisa KNAPP on
Mar 21, 1920, on his father’s 30th birthday, in Youngsville, PA. He was named Warren Ralph
HUSTED after two of his maternal uncles, Warren
PRESTON, and Dr. Ralph KNAPP, MD.
Warren spent his childhood at 221 W. Main St, Youngsville, PA,
on the banks of the Broken
Straw Creek, with an older sister, Elizabeth
(1918 - 2003) and younger brother, Theodore (1922 - ). He
graduated from the historic Youngsville High
School in 1937.
In
1938 Warren entered Houghton
College in Houghton, NY
and completed 4 years of pre-med studies. When asked why he went to Houghton College,
He simply
replied,
“Because it was cheap.”
(It is noted that Houghton is a Wesleyan Methodist school
and Warren’s
family were devout Methodists.)
It is
believed that Warren
was pressured by his parents to take pre-med courses because;
(1) He was the
eldest son.
(2) His paternal
grandfather was a Dentist and his maternal Grandfather
and Uncle were both physicians.
He denied
this, but offered no other reason for perusing a pre-med major.
In
1939 Warren
met Mildred Anna SMITH, who was also in pre-med studies, working toward
a
nursing degree. They both say that they
met
when he had a date with her room mate. When
he came to pick up his date, Mildred answered the door and told him
that
her
roommate could’t go because she was ill with a cold, “But,” she added,
“I’m available.”
So he took Mildred on the date
instead. They continued dating
throughout college. Warren
loved taking hikes in the nearby hills and said that Mildred was the
only one
who could keep up with him.
After
completing
4 years of pre-med studies in 1942, Warren
left college. He did not continue to Med School
and offers no reason for leaving college, other than saying, “There was
a war
on.”
(Note: After his death, an old report card was found
which indicated that Warren
was a mediocre student, which may have been a factor.)
Warren enlisted in the Army and
was
assigned to Medic Basic Training. He was
promoted to Cpl. and was transferred to Laboratory Technical Training
at Lawson Hospital,
Atlanta, GA.
While there he was able to take
advantage of a Specialized Training Program, in which the Army allowed
him to
attend classes at Georgia Tech where he took 2 semesters in Chemical
Engineering. He would have continued the
studies, however, the Army canceled the program.
(Note:
Warren
never completed a college
degree. He once confided that he only
short by a few History credits.)
Warren was given a furlough and
went to Poughkeepsie,
NY
where he and Mildred Smith were married on Oct 3, 1943.
After
a
couple of weeks honeymoon, Warren
reported as a medic to an Ordinance Battalion in Ft Stewart, GA. The unit was then went to Ft Campbell KY in
preparation
for deployment to Austria. During a routine medical exam it was
discovered
that he had a hernia. The subsequent surgery and rehabilitation
halted any prospect of
being
transferred to the European Theater of WWII with his unit.
After
rehabilitation
Warren was re-assigned to Ft Jackson in Columbia SC,
where he was the NCOIC (Non Commissioned Officer
in
Charge) of the VD lab and morgue from 1944 to 1949.
During this tour of duty, he was assigned TAD
(Temporary Additional Duty) to the Cadre for
MASH 1. (Basically, he was in charge
of initial
outfitting and training.) Once the MASH unit was fully trained and
functional, they were deployed to Austria
and Warren
was returned
to his duties at Ft Jackson.
In
Apr of
1944, Mildred delivered a son, two months premature.
Named Howard HUSTED after Warren’s father, the baby only
survived an
hour. In Sept 1945 the couple had a
second son, Richard Warren HUSTED.
Mildred
had
remained with her family in Poughkeepsie
after their marriage, mainly because of WWII.
A few months after Richard was born she joined Warren
in Columbia, SC where the family resided in the
enlisted
quarters at Ft Jackson.
In
Feb
1947
they had a third son, Raymond Howard HUSTED, named after both Mildred
and Warren’s
parents, Raymond
SMITH and Howard HUSTED.
In
1949 Warren
was encouraged by
his superiors to apply for a commission in the Medical Admin Corps.,
which he
did. His application for a commission
was approved, however, citing a shortage of Radar Officers, the Army
commissioned
him in the Coast Artillery Corps.
(Note:
At
military gates, the guards wave in enlisted personnel and salute the
officers. Warren loved to tell that on his
first day as
a 2nd Lt. he drove in the gate and received his salute. Warren
immediately stopped and got out of the car.
The guard was both shocked and scared, fearing that he had done
something wrong, but was surprised when Warren
thanked him and handed him a silver dollar.
It is a custom in the military for an officer to give a silver
dollar
for
his
first salute.)
Warren was transferred to Ft
Bliss, in El Paso,
TX
to attend radar school. He tells that on
graduation from radar school, his class was lined up alphabetically and
they
just went down the line, issuing duty assignments.
The fellow just before him was sent to a unit
in Korea, while Warren was sent to a unit in Alaska.
Warren said that he later learned
that
the fellow just before him never actually set foot in Korea
– his
landing craft had been hit by hostile fire, killing all aboard.
Warren’s Anti Aircraft Btn. was
in Fairbanks, AK.
and was one of the last all Black units of the segregated Army. Because Alaska
was not a state then, all service members and their dependents had to
be
cleared for “overseas” travel, so in July, 1951 Warren
reported to Ft Lewis near Tacoma,
WA for overseas screening. Warren’s
youngest son, Raymond was found to have a heart murmur and could not be
cleared
for overseas travel, so the family remained in Lakewood,
WA, a suburb of Tacoma
WA, while Warren
proceeded unaccompanied to Fairbanks.
(Note:
Raymond’s heart condition completely disappeared before adolescence.)
After
two
years in Alaska, Warren
was transferred to a Nike Missile site in Hanford WA. Having become settled, Mildred balked at yet
another move, complaining that she wanted a “stay at home” husband. Warren
applied for and was granted a release from active duty in 1954,
however, he
remained with the Army Reserve, advancing to Major and eventually
earning his Army
Reserve Retirement in 1980.
After
leaving active duty Warren
worked in
the quality control department at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Tacoma, WA. When Kaiser closed their Tacoma
plant they recommended him to The Boeing Co.
where he also worked in quality control.
When
his
sons joined Cub Scouts Warren became active with Cub Pack Committee. When the boys moved on to Boy Scouts, Warren started
working as
a Boy Scout District Commissioner and became active in council
activities. With a love of the outdoors he
also joined
the Tacoma Mountaineers in 1954. He
completed the Basic Mountaineering course, having climbed Mt St Helens,
Mt
Adams and other Cascade peaks. The
family would often go camping or on outings, either on their own or
with the
Scouts or with the Mountaineers. If there was a minus tide, the family
would
camp on the dunes near Ocean City on the Washington
coast to dig Pacific Razor clams. In the late 50s and early 60s Warren took up
hunting. Although not very successful, it
provided another good excuse for an outing, especially
when his
older son joined him.
In
the mid 60’s
Warren
was laid
off from Boeing and he attempted a number of unsuccessful sales jobs,
from
kitchen knifes to waterless cookware to life insurance.
This was also during the early days of Ocean Shores
and he earned part time money by driving prospective buyers on weekend
day
trips to see
the property there.
Things
had
not been smooth at home for a long time. Warren and Mildred had slept
in separate
bedrooms since the late 50’s. Warren started
staying over
with friends and eventually moved out all together in the mid 60’s. In early 1967, Warren and Mildred were
divorced.
Warren had been introduced to
Mary (LeMASTERS) STEWART by a
mutual friend and
on Oct 18, 1968 they were married and settled in Lacy WA., a suburb of Olympia, WA.
Warren
found work in the quality control department at Continental Can Co. and
Mary
worked for the State Dept of Labor and Industries.
In
Jun 1970 Mary gave birth to Warren’s
fourth son, Brian Lee HUSTED.
Warren became a Grandpa for the
first time in Apr 1972 with the birth of Richard’s son, Christopher Lee
HUSTED
and
again in July 1976 with the birth of Richard’s second son, Trenton
James
HUSTED.
In
the
early 70s’ Warren and Mary offered themselves as a temporary Foster
home and
they estimate that during the 5 years they were in the program they
were able
to house and help an estimated 85 kids.
Mary
retired in 1975 and Warren
retired in 1982. To celebrate their
retirement Warren and Mary went on a round the world tour, leaving
Brian with
relatives in Alder WA. On their return
in Dec 1982, they discovered that Brian had been doing better in school
in
Alder than he had in Lacy, so they moved Alder WA.
In 1984 they moved to nearby Eatonville WA
where Warren and Mary became active with the Masons and Eastern Star.
In
2002
Warren and Mary decided that they needed to be closer to the emanates
of larger towns and moved back to Lacy where Warren
remained active with Masons and the American Legion.
In
Nov 2009, Warren
again became a grandfather with the birth of Brian’s son, Zachary
Warren
HUSTED.
Warren suffered a massive
coronary and died in Jan 6, 2010 while
vacationing in Hawaii.