James Ronald Warren, a Puget Sound historian, war veteran and first president of Edmonds Community College, died on Sept. 13, 2012, at age 87.
According to the The Seattle Times (read the full obituary), was a longtime Bellevue resident who wrote more than 16 history books on the region and a series of World War II history for the The Times.
According to HistoryLink, Warren became Edmonds CC first president in 1967 when classes were held at the old Woodway High School in Edmonds. When the new campus opened on 68th Avenue West in Lynnwood two years later, the college kept its original name.
Accoring to HistoryLink:
When the faculty and students moved to the new campus in 1969, the only buildings were two houses left over from the Army station. Seven portable buildings would have been there, had it not been for Richard Nixon, who was having some work done at the summer White House in San Clemente. The portables were shipped there first, and arrived back at the school only one week before the fall semester began.
After they arrived, television news crews were on hand to document the school’s historic opening. Edmonds Community College President James Warren walked over to open the door for the cameras. It wouldn’t budge, so he rattled the knob, which came off in his hand.
For its first year, much of the grounds were mud, and students named their first newspaper The Quagmire, in honor of this inauspicious beginning. But within a few years, the school proved to be popular with students, faculty, and the community.
A former prisoner of war, Warren was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.
According to The Times: In lieu of flowers the family requests gifts to your favorite charity, or the Nature Conservancy of Washington, MOHAI, or the Group Health Foundation. There will be no services.
