Ralph Oscar Warren's Obituary
Ralph Oscar Warren, a vivacious and generous soul, passed away at the age of 92 surrounded by his family on April 28, 2026. He was deeply loved and admired by his wife and children. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.
He is survived by Becky, his loving wife of 49 years, his son, Tommy Warren & wife, Susan, and daughter, Betty Newman & husband, Tom. He is also survived by grandchildren, Cassie Cobb & husband Jared, Blake Warren & wife, Mya, Katie Warren, Ralph “Mick” Moore & wife, Linda, Heather Tipton & husband, Lee, Elizabeth Fauth & partner, Chane Johnson, Rebecca Henson & husband, Roderick, Anita Lottie Vallejos, Paula Lindsey and Paul Baird, and numerous great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren. He is predeceased by his daughters, Donna Jewell, Wanda Baird and Brenda Moore Perritt, his parents, Robert Riley Warren & Hazel Berta DeMoss Warren Sutton and his siblings William Warren, Melba Shackelford & Mildred Durst.
Ralph was extremely involved in his family and his community. As a Rotarian, he was actively involved in and sponsoring the Longview Rodeo and The Great Texas Balloon Race, frequently hosting East Texas and Louisiana Locksmith Association catfish dinner and crawfish boils. He was a friend to all and would help anyone in need and would not refuse a request for help or assistance of any kind.
He was a deeply spiritual man, who deeply loved his family, friends, nature and animals of any kind. As well as raising longhorn cattle, he has raised exotic animals including buffalo, llama, deer, ostriches, and African Watusi cattle.
He remained extremely active, capable and strong until a serious tractor accident in March of 2025. Until the time of his accident, although a man in his 90s, he had the vitality of a man in his 60s.
He falsified his age and joined the army when he was 16 years of age and proudly served in the Korean war in the 4th Army, 25th Armored Division, he received medals for marksmanship, a Purple Heart and other citations. He was a certified master locksmith in Longview for more than 40 years (most of which time he owned and operated one of the largest locksmith companies in East Texas and Louisiana), prior to locksmithing, he was among the first ASE certified master mechanics in Texas. Also he wrote the slogan for and was GM’s original Mr. Goodwrench.
Truly a man who accomplished much, he mastered many trades and had many interests. He was an extremely charming and humorous man with great story-telling abilities. Among his many accomplishments was piloting his own plane, serving as President of the Dallas Skydivers Association in the 1960s, appearing in championship meets of the SW Conference on the television program Wide World of Sports 3 different times. He took his last sky-dive in Gladewater at the age of 80. He often created tools to aid in his endeavors, including converting a caulk gun into a prototype of the snake grabber tongs (so that his young son could safely catch live rattlesnakes in West Texas). He then generously gave the rancher his prototype for others to use freely. He also created a hydraulic lift for use in moving heavy vault doors, plans of which he submitted to a national locksmith magazine for publication to aid other locksmiths in safely handling heavy safes and vault doors.
Visitation will be at Rader Funeral Home, 1617 Judson Rd, Longview, TX 75601, on Sunday, May 3, 2026, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Funeral will be in the Mausoleum Chapel at Rosewood Park Cemetery, 1884 FM 1844, Longview, TX 75605, on May 4, 2026 at 10:00 am.
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