Donald Ralph Warrener

June 5th, 1962 – January 21st, 2024 

Suddenly, but peacefully on Sunday, January 21, 2024 our beloved husband, dad, gramps and best friend, Don Warrener, passed into the loving arms of his Saviour Jesus Christ. Don’s steadfast Christian faith sustained him throughout his life and carries him still in the loving company of God.

Don was predeceased by his beloved parents, Jim & Joan Warrener (nee Challoner) and his dearly loved grandparents; Ralph & Lily Challoner (nee Jorgenson), and Cyril & Hilda Warrener (nee Thurston), as well as many cherished uncles, aunts, and extended family members and friends. We are greatly comforted knowing that all his loved ones in heaven were there to welcome him and that they are all reunited in God’s loving care.

Deeply loved, Don will be forever remembered by his loving wife, soul mate and best friend Sarah of 40+ years, his cherished family; daughter Melissa, son-in-law Eddie, and his best little buddy Lucas, his adored grandson with whom he will always have a very special bond. 

One of Don’s amazing gifts was that of making meaningful connections with everyone he met. Don has many dear and treasured family members and friends who will remember him with love. Sarah’s sisters and brothers-in-law; Mary & Ian, Laurie & Les, nephews and nieces; Stuart, Heather (Wayne), Scott (Carol),   Kevin (Monica) and all the kids who Don loved to get down on their level and have fun with; Kyra, Hailey, Steve, Evie, Cole, Nate, and Jude; family friends KC de Jong and wife Sandy (Tori & Josh, Sydni (Chris), Nic (Sophia), Bob T., Bill & Alison G., Don S., the Doucette family (Duane & Lori, Josh (Brianna), Matt (Madison), his choral music family, his many friends in Christ of St. Saviour’s, and everyone he shared fellowship with along life’s path.

Don was born in Winnipeg on June 5^th, 1962 to his adoring parents Jim and Joan Warrener. Don loved to tease his dad Jim about the fact that not only was Jim out of town on engineering business when Don was born, on the way to the hospital to see his newborn son for the first time, Jim just had to stop briefly at his office just to check-in. His mom Joan just rolled her eyes every time this story was told.

Don loved growing up in the family home in North Kildonan on the corner of Kildonan Drive and Cheriton Avenue. It was a place full of love, laughter and many gatherings of family and friends. From an early age, Don always looked forward to get-togethers with the Jamieson/Jensen branch of the family. Christmas’s, New Year’s Eve, birthdays, and barbeques were all opportunities for fun, food and laughter. Even the occasional tobogganing excursions which often produced some hair-raising moments.

Back to back over a shared fence lived the Schroeder family. John & Heidi became like a second set of parents for Don, often calling them Mom & Dad 2, with all the Schroeder kids being like siblings – only better because they didn’t live in the same house! Don loved sharing his memories of these early years, sleepovers, being babysat by Terry or Linda, or as he got older, babysitting Sandy who he adored and  thought of as his little sister throughout his life. When Sandy got married a few years following Don & Sarah, her husband KC and Don developed an enduring friendship. Many hours of coffees shared over “philosophical discussions”, tractors, cars and snowmobiles analyzed, dozens of construction projects (including our beautiful home), laughter, hilarity and love as our families joined together to enjoy each other’s company. Don treasured his friendship with KC and he felt blessed to have shared his life journey with his constant friend, and due to an incident witnessed by young Lucas, we all delighted (including Don) in referring to Uncle KC as Don’s “problem”!

Neighbourhood friendships remained a source of joy for Don as the years passed by. “Running into” any member of the Stanger, Bemister, Penner, Diachun (the list goes on) families over the years always brought a smile to Don’s face as he “caught up” on family news.

Music. Don loved music right down to the bottom of his soul. It’s artful expression and an appreciation of all it’s forms was certainly a gift given by God into Don’s soul. It is fascinating to note that Don’s listening library includes everything from Mozart, Handel and Byrd through to AC/DC, Montrose, Gordon Lightfoot, Eagles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Heart, Mel Torme, Alison Krauss, Great Big Sea, Beatles, the Beach Boys and everything in-between.

Music was integral in both Don’s way of enjoying his own Christian life journey, but was also one of Don’s “go to” ways of sharing his Christian faith with others and worshipping his Saviour Jesus Christ. His life-long passion for choral music was sparked as a young chorister in the Men and Boys Choir of All Saints Anglican under Choirmaster Donald Hadfield. Weekly choir practices, 2 sung services on Sundays, and several choir trips to England to replace cathedral choirs on summer hiatus created a life-long love of choral music and cherished friendships with whom he shared this passion. Don also thoroughly enjoyed and treasured the many years singing bass with his Camerata Nova (Now “Dead of Winter”) family.

Don’s school years began at a private kindergarten in the family’s Kildonan Drive neighbourhood. Don remembered walking there with his neighbourhood friends and being joined by all their other classmates enroute. Elementary and middle school was at John Pritchard, with a 2 year hiatus to live in St. Louis, Missouri while his Dad worked on a doctorate at Washington University. Don enjoyed all his new friends from all over the world that were making the campus their temporary home, but perhaps his most vivid and treasured memories were of walking into Busch Memorial Stadium with his Dad, family friends, and even a school field trip to watch his beloved MLB St. Louis Cardinals. They were certainly the glory years in the late 1960’s for the club and Don’s favourite players to watch were Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Joe Torre as catcher.

Don’s highschool years at River East Collegiate provided an opportunity for Don to further explore his love of all things mechanical. His interest was nurtured from an early age by his grandfather Ralph,  who owned and operated a John Deere/Chrysler/Desoto dealership in Norquay, Saskatchewan, his Mom Joan’s hometown. The Challoner family farm in Norquay was one of Don’s favourite places on earth. He was thrilled when in the summers he could go up to the farm and help out in any way possible. Driving the farm trucks, or even better, one of the John Deere tractors or combines during harvest helped to create a dedicated “John Deere” man who shared his love of all things green and yellow with anyone, but most especially with his grandson Lucas who is walking faithfully in Don’s “JD” footsteps. Don took on a huge rescue project when he purchased a 1951 John Deere model “A” tractor in need of TLC shortly after moving onto their country property in East St. Paul. Once fully restored, Don could often be seen driving the “A” up and down the country roads near their home, usually with Lucas perched on his lap. Neighbourhood kids often ran out for a closer look and Don always obliged, delighting in being able to bring young ones into the “John Deere” fold.

His very first car, a Datsun 510 was often entirely disassembled on the family driveway, but somehow he managed to get everything back in the right place …… eventually. One of Don’s favourite memories from his teen years occurred when he was at the car wash on Henderson Highway cleaning his Datsun 510 when he struck up a conversation with the fellow in the next bay cleaning his MOPAR musclecar. A ride was offered and readily accepted by Don. Thus began Don’s lifetime commitment as a Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth “MOPAR” man. His first dream car purchase was his 1974 ‘Cuda (purchased in the mid 1980’s) which he hilariously used to teach Sarah how to drive standard, with somewhat dubious results. In the late 1980’s, Don drove out to Summerland, BC to receive the gift of his grandfather Ralph’s 1969 Dodge Dart. Seven year old Don had actually been with his grandfather the day Ralph purchased the Dart new at the dealership and asked him that day – “Grampa ….. can I have the Dart when you’re finished with it?” The Dart has been loved and enjoyed thoroughly by our family over the past 30 + years, and we look forward to honouring both Grampa Ralph and “Gramps Don” with many more summer drives to car shows and for hotdogs & ice creams in Lockport.

We are so very grateful that Don was able to fulfill and enjoy his dream of ordering a brand new Dodge Challenger Scat Pack. Ordered during the pandemic, “Scats” in all it’s purple “H*ll Raisin” glory didn’t arrive until 2022. No matter, as Don was to be found in the driver’s seat or polishing  the exterior every chance he could get. The first person to get a ride with Gramps in “Scats” was Lucas of course. No trip was too short, even driving to Sobey’s Birds Hill for groceries or just out for a coffee. It was so good to see Don enjoying himself so thoroughly.

Don’s interests and passions were many and varied.  He loved to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with anyone who showed interest and perhaps a few who hadn’t?  Don became a skilled certified watchmaker following highschool, (working at Birks, Breslauer & Warren, and Eaton’s) and continued his watchmaking practice as a favourite hobby throughout his life, focusing on pocket watches in recent years. Don could rarely be seen without his wristwatch or a pocket watch & fob at the ready in a pocket or vest. Don particularly enjoyed sharing his love of watchmaking with Lucas and his son-in-law Eddie. Don was delighted to note that indeed, both Lucas and Eddie appreciate and enjoy a skillfully crafted mechanical timepiece.

Don had several different “careers” on his way to the world of Industrial Coatings. But it was in the industrial coatings (paint) business that Don spent most of his working career and developed many lasting and treasured friendships. Don loved being a “hands-on” sales representative. Don’s breadth of technical knowledge was vast, if somewhat exhaustive for his wife Sarah when she was trying to clean a surface for proper paint adhesion to Don’s exacting standards. For Don – it was always about the people. Making lasting connections with anyone he encountered in his workday, or just over the phone. The people he worked with became treasured friends and eventually business partners in Micron Coatings: Bob Theisen, Bill & Alison Gemmill, and Don Strembiski. Don thoroughly enjoyed the “one-on-one” personal aspect of conducting business and had especially fond memories of the “Micron” years. It was during this period that Don and Sarah were introduced to vacationing yearly in San Diego, California, enjoying many years staying up in the hills near Ramona and exploring everything Southern California had to offer. Disneyland was the family favourite, along with Coronado Island, Balboa Park, So-Cal Speed Shop, vintage car shows, and the Barona antique drag races. In 2016 Don and Sarah indulged their love of travel with a trip to England. Visiting the hometowns and birth places of both our families, as well as touring every art gallery, museum, cathedral, and castle possible filled the trip with so many wonderful memories to relive. A particularly wonderful day was spent in Cambridge culminating in attending Evensong at King’s College where we were seated in the choir stalls next to the choir. Don was singing with tears in his eyes, he was so very moved by the experience. So many treasured family memories to hold onto, and to add onto, in the years to come.

It was while he was working on the 8^th floor of Eaton’s as a watchmaker that Don met and started dating the love of his life, Sarah. They met during “Octoberfest” at Winnipeg’s Convention Center and they both knew immediately that they were made for each other. The very next day, a Sunday, Don asked Sarah to go to the movies with him that evening and she excitedly accepted saying to her Mum & Dad that this was definitely “the one”! Unknown to Sarah, Don had casually mentioned his evening date plans to his buddies in All Saints Choir during the morning service. Don and Sarah were just a little startled when during the movie, young male voices could be heard making smart remarks from a few rows behind. Laughter ensued and it was certainly an entertaining “first date” story that was often shared.

Don and Sarah were married on August 6^th, 1983 at All Saints Anglican Church. It had been less than a year since they had met, but they both knew that God had brought them together. Just this past August, Don and Sarah celebrated their 40^th Wedding Anniversary surrounded by love and laughter.  Don delighted in telling the story of Sarah being ID’d at a Pizza Hut in South Dakota on their honeymoon and only being allowed an alcoholic beverage with her pizza because they had their marriage license with them and her husband was present! In the year’s following their wedding, Don and Sarah enjoyed spending family time with Don’s parents, Jim and Joan, building the Warrener family cottage on Moonlight Bay of West Hawk Lake. As the years passed and baby Melissa arrived, just about every weekend of every summer was spent at West Hawk constructing, repairing, swimming, boating, berry picking and just having fun. Don’s favourite activities included playing horseshoes with his Dad Jim, swimming in the beautiful clear lake with Melissa, Mom Joan, Sarah and a begrudging Jim, and happy hour on the bay over the years with the Gottfred, Allerton,  Goplin, Romijn, Dyck and Wotherspoon families. Don loved to take the whole family out for boat rides, as well as any interested onlookers. We were all delighted to share our love of the cottage with Lucas for a few years before finding it necessary to sell during the pandemic. It seemed that Don sometimes spent half the weekend leaning over a boat motor, but he certainly enjoyed solving any challenge that an engine could offer.

Don developed treasured relationships with Sarah’s extended family. Sarah’s Mum & Dad (Joan & Don MacKenzie) simply adored Don and many summer weekends were spent at the MacKenzie family cottage on 8^th Avenue at Victoria Beach. Together with Sarah’s sisters and brothers-in-law and all the kids, many wonderful times together were shared at “VB”. Fishing on the pier or on the end of 8^th Avenue, buying bread or dream cookies at the bakery, relaxing on the beach, playing cribbage or all walking down to the end of 8^th to watch the sunset. Although Don never quite got used to (and often complained about) the fact that he had to pay to leave his car in the parking lot, and then pay again to take a taxi with all the luggage down to the cottage, only to have to pay for another taxi to take us back to our car at the end of our visit.

After the purchase of their first house on Oakland Avenue, Don and Sarah were blessed with the joyful arrival of their beautiful daughter Melissa in April of 1992. Don was an absolutely besotted young Dad, constantly taking videos and rushing to be the first to get her up in the mornings on the weekend. Melissa was “Daddy’s little girl” from the first moment their eyes met and their bond was beautiful and full to the brim with love and lots of laughter. Don and Sarah felt so blessed as they watched Melissa grow into the beautiful, loving, confident, joyful, faith-filled person and amazing Mom to Lucas that she has become. 

In 2015, our blessing from God, Lucas, arrived to spread joy, laughter and love to our family. Don “Gramps” and Lucas will always share their very special bond with each other. They simply adored spending time together. Endless hours spent working on their quads and riding around the property, John Deere Tractors, Don’s grandfather Ralph’s 1969 Dodge Dart, the 2022 Challenger Scat Pack, and watchmaker’s bench were constant sources of exploration, learning and enjoyment. 

Don’s greatest joy was spending time with his family. He and Sarah loved nothing better than visiting with Melissa, Eddie and Lucas. Conversations about anything and everything, food, laughter and the joy of just being together. Our joy was overflowing when this past Christmas Day in 2023, Melissa and Eddie became engaged! It was a wonderful surprise for us all and Don delighted in being Eddie’s “co-conspirator” in keeping everything secret until Christmas Day. Eddie and Don shared an amazing friendship – many conversations, coffees, laughter and a mischievous streak that often landed the two of them (and often Lucas together with them) in “back-pedaling” mode. Shouts of laughter would erupt as the 5 of us would have snowball fights outside, or play in the basement with the trainset town, carpet hockey, balloon volleyball and family favourites “Snake Tag” and “Burrito War”.

The family would like to extend their sincere thanks and gratitude to Rev. Edmund Laldin and Rev. Canon Rick Condo whose support during this difficult time has been a blessing. A special thank you also to Jenny of Voyage Funeral Homes who’s kind friendship and gentle care was a comfort to all of us. We are also so thankful for our extended family and dear friends who have drawn near and supported us.

A Memorial Service in celebration of Don’s life will be held on Saturday, February 10th, 2024 at 1:00pm at St. Saviour’s Anglican Church 690 Munroe Avenue, Winnipeg. Reception to follow. Private family interment. 

Memorial Service LIVEstream available at: www.stsaviourswinnipeg.com and on the parish’s Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Don’s memory can be made to St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in support of the Music Ministry.

Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord,

And let light perpetual shine upon him.