Lloyd Warren, Longtime Entomology Professor and Administrator, Dies at 98

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Lloyd Warren

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Lloyd O. Warren, 98, of Fayetteville, who served as a longtime faculty member in the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and as director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, died Sunday.

“We appreciate his years of service to the state, the Division of Agriculture and to the agriculture industry in his work as professor and in his 10 years as director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station,” said Mark Cochran, vice president-agriculture and head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“He went from horse days to the Space Age days of agriculture in his lifetime,” said Rick Cartwright, associate director-agriculture and natural resources for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Cartwright knew Warren, first as an employer, and then as father-in-law. “Before the Internet, he had this concept that he really believed that if you found something and were sure of it, you communicated quickly and professionally to the end users.”

Cartwright also said Warren “enjoyed 4-H and had very clear memories of it.”

As a youth, Warren was very competitive.  

“Like many rural youngsters at that time, and still today, he was exposed to scientific agriculture through 4-H, growing prize chickens for the county fair,” Cartwright said. “His hens took second prize the year he was able to compete, and he always believed they would have won first if the family had not had to eat the rooster the Sunday before the fair, literally out of necessity.

“Afterwards, he noted that it was probably a good thing for the hens that they laid eggs or they might have been next,” Cartwright said.

Warren was born Dec. 27, 1915, in Fayetteville, the son of Elliott and Nona Warren. Survivors include his wife of 72 years, Ruby Warren, daughters and sons-in-law Michele and Roy Lang of Hot Springs, Denise and George Jones of Littleton, Colorado, and Lynette and Rick Cartwright of Little Rock; brother Charles Warren of Englewood, Colorado, sisters Helen Murphy of Fayetteville and Velma Brown of Rogers; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Warren graduated from Son's Chapel School and University High School in Fayetteville. He earned a B.S.E. degree and an M.S. degree in biological sciences from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in entomology from Kansas State University. He delayed completion of his education to enlist in the Naval Reserve in 1942 during World War II. After training to be a Naval photographer, he was assigned to New Caledonia Aircraft Base and then to the USMC First Provisional Brigade for the Mariannas Operation. He completed his Naval service at the Naval Photographic Science Laboratory in Anacostia, Maryland.

He began his career at the University of Arkansas in 1939 as a student assistant, returning after the war to continue his studies and serve as instructor and junior entomologist. He entered graduate school at Kansas State University in 1951, where he was an instructor in general entomology and laboratory classes. Upon completion of his Ph.D. in 1954, he returned to the University of Arkansas as an assistant professor. He served as professor of entomology from 1963 to 1973, when he was appointed director of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1983 he returned to the entomology department before retiring as professor emeritus in 1986.

In 1994, Warren was elected a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University. In August 1997, a laboratory building at the Division of Agriculture farm in Fayetteville was renamed the Cralley-Warren Laboratory in recognition of his and M.E. Cralley's service as directors of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Warren received the Historical Merit Award in 1994 from the American Baptist Association in honor of his "significant contributions to the preservation and study of Baptist history." He was named Washington County Citizen of the Year by the Washington County Historical Society in 1998.

He was a member of Central Baptist Church in Fayetteville, where he served as a teacher, deacon, and trustee. He was a board member and past president of the Fayetteville Evening Lions Club, a life member of the Washington County Historical Society, member and past president of the Washington County Retired Teachers' Association and lifetime member of Arkansas 4-H Alumni Association. He also held memberships and served on committees in various professional organizations throughout his career. He enjoyed researching and writing about Washington County history, church history and family genealogy. His love of photography was evident in the many pictures he took while traveling through the United States and various foreign countries with his wife and family.

"Dr. Warren," as many knew him, was loved and respected as an example of a true gentleman and scholar. His love of nature and insects in particular prompted many a sudden stop in the middle of the road to get a "better look," much to the dismay of his daughters and at least one son-in-law who mostly just watched the rear view mirror. Warren will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Visitation will be at Nelson-Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville on Thursday, June 26, at 10 a.m. with funeral service following at 11 a.m. The family will have a private burial service at the cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lloyd and Ruby Warren Endowed Scholarship Fund, c/o Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701; the Shiloh Museum, 118 W. Johnson Ave., Springdale, AR 72764, or the Washington County Historical Society, 118 E. Dickson St., Fayetteville, AR 72701.