Retired New Orleans Patrolman Paul A. Warren passed away March 1 following a lengthy illness. He was 91.
Born Jan. 4, 1913 in Byhalia, Miss, the charter member joined the SIU on Nov. 16, 1938 in the port of Mobile, Ala. Brother Warren was a key figure for the union during its infancy and worked closely with late SIU Presidents Harry Lundeberg and Paul Hall on a variety of labor and maritime issues. He was believed to be the oldest surviving SIU charter member at the time of his death.
Brother Warren sailed in the deck department as a bosun and worked for a number of shipping companies, including Waterman Steamship, Mobile Oceanic Line, Delta Steamship Lines, Calmar Steamship Corp., Seatrain Lines and Alcoa Steamship.
Brother Warren initially went to sea when he was 18. His first ship was Waterman’s Kenowie.
Brother Warren retired from the union effective Aug. 1, 1973, following 35 years of devoted service.
A highly decorated military veteran, Brother Warren served in both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army. He participated in the Battle of Anzio (Jan. 23 to May 25, 1944) in Italy. By all accounts, this was among the bloodiest battles of World War II. Records also indicate that Brother Warren was aboard the merchant freighter Andrew Jackson when it was torpedoed and sunk on July 12, 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico by a German U-boat.
Brother Warren was highly respected by his peers, including SIU retiree George M. Milazzo, who said, “Paul was one of the few men that was tough enough to fight for his beliefs.” His personal effort was instrumental in helping to form what is now the SIU, Milazzo said.
Capt. Murdock A. Jackson, another of Brother Warren’s longtime friends, also attested to the late mariner’s toughness and determination. “He was on a ship in Anchorage when he enlisted in the Army,” Jackson wrote in correspondence to the Seafarers LOG. “He was in the battle of Anzio Beach in Italy … and was wounded in the neck and leg by a sniper that jumped out of an olive tree. Paul survived, the enemy did not.”
Survivors include his wife, Antoinette Boscareno Warren; two sons, Jimmy and Paul Earl Warren; and two daughters, Leigh Ella Jane LaForte and Christa Warren Belesimo. Brother Warren also had nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
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