Warren Carter Caldwell 1921-2009

CALDWELL, BESWICK, HAYDEN, KUNZMAN, METHFESSEL, WINTERS

Posted By: Bobbie (email)
Date: 9/28/2010 at 22:29:09

The Des Moines Register
Jan. 3, 2009

Obituaries
Warren Carter Caldwell, 87, died peacefully on December 31, 2008 of respiratory failure.

Funeral Services will be held at 11am, January 5, 2009, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 3424 Forest Ave, in Des Moines; with burial at Glendale Cemetery following the service.

Warren was born in Loveland, CO on January 21, 1921 to Jesse Caldwell and Elizabeth N. Caldwell. He graduated from Estes Park High School, Estes Park, Colorado, in 1937, as Valedictorian of the Class. In 1942, Warren graduated from Colorado College, Colorado Springs with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in Business.

In 1942, he then enlisted into the U. S. Army Aircorps as an Aviation Cadet. He went on to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, and then as a Captain of an Air Transport Command. He was discharged from service in 1946 into the Air National Guard.

While in the service, a major portion of his work was centered on weather analysis. He spent a year studying weather at the California Institute of Technology; he was assigned to a long range research unit to analyze global weather maps; and he later worked as part of a mobile weather station to help prepare for an invasion of Japan during W.W. II.

In 1944, Warren was stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. It was there that he met and married Catharine (Kaye) Beswick, in 1945. During the last year of his service, he was shipped to Newfoundland, so Kaye returned to her hometown of Detroit, Michigan where Warren joined her in 1946.

He worked for the U. S. Rubber Co. as a research physicist until his preference for meteorology led him to a new career with the U.S. Weather Bureau at the Wayne, MI airport. It was during the time he lived in Detroit, that he and Kaye had 2 daughters. In 1951, a promotion in the Weather Bureau brought Warren to Des Moines, where he continued until 1980, when he retired as the Meteorologist in charge.

In Des Moines, Warren and Kaye added a son to their family. Warren went on to become involved in church and community organizations. He was an active member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church for 55 years, serving as treasurer and on the Vestry for many years. He was widely respected for his intelligence and honesty.

Warren was a founding member of the Scottish Heritage Society of Iowa, and played the drums in the Scottish Heritage Pipe Band. He was awarded Scot of the Year in 1999.

Warren loved to study genealogy, to travel, to learn languages (Russian and Greek were two he attempted). He valued continually expanding his learning. He was a historian at heart, and liked to record details of the day in a journal. He loved researching his ancestry, and belonged to the Iowa Genealogy Society.

Warren was a quiet, precise man who enjoyed British sit-coms, and slapstick humor. He cared deeply about his children and grandchildren; with one or another living with him at times. He believed in duty and responsibility to loved ones. He will be missed by family and friends.

Warren is preceded in death by his wife, Catharine, his parents, Jesse and Elizabeth Caldwell. He is survived by his sister, Eleanor Hayden, of Denver; three children: Janice Kunzman and Debbie Caldwell of Des Moines, and Brian (Diane) Caldwell of Lafayette, CO; three grandchildren: Jennie Methfessel, Sarah Winters, and David Winters of Des Moines, and one great-granddaughter, Ashley Methfessel of Des Moines.

Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m.,today, January 4 at Westover Chapel. Memorial contributions can be made to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.