GRAFTON, NH — McWilson Warren died peacefully in his Grafton, NH home on the morning of January 23. He was 91 years old.
Born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on the eve of the Depression, Mac was the only child of Lorenzo and Ethel Warren. The family moved to Clinton, NC where Mac spent his childhood working in tobacco fields and tending to livestock. A popular student, Mac was elected senior class president for Clinton High School in 1946. Following high school, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill attaining a bachelor’s in biology and a master’s in public health.
Unable to join the Navy because of a childhood illness, Mac worked several jobs primarily in laboratories. He was noticed for his brilliance in parasitology and he was invited to study at Rice University in Houston, TX. Where he earned a PhD in public health.
Doctorate in hand Mac pursued an academic career. He joined the faculty the University of Oklahoma in Norman and taught at the medical school. Recruited to join a malaria control program Mac traded Oklahoma for Malaysia and the classroom for the field. Over the next four years he and his colleagues published thirty-eight scientific papers and he was commissioned as an officer in the Public Health Service.
During his tenure as an officer with the Service, his assignments included the NIH and CDC, with a few secondments to USAID and WHO. The focus of his work was the epidemiology and control of malarias and other infectious diseases in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. He took a post-doctorate year at the London School of Tropical Medicine. He shared publication of some eighty papers, and co-authored the book “The Primate Malarias.”
While stationed in El Salvador in the early 70’s, Mac met a young Foreign Service Officer named Mary Keany. After an extended courtship, the couple married, and had one son, James. The couple and James lived in El Salvador and Malaysia before settling in Atlanta, GA where Mac worked at the CDC. He retired from the USPHS as a highly decorated Captain. He took the helm as the editor of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, where he relished rediscovering the role of shaping young scientific minds.
In 2000, the couple retired to rural New Hampshire and renovated an old farmhouse that was the Keany summer home. Both were active in the Town of Grafton, and the Warrens were known for their hospitality to friends both local and from their overseas assignments.
He lost his best friend Mary in 2014. Remaining in Grafton Mac continued to enjoy country walks with his dog Sam, indulging in the study of the local flora and fauna. He lived independently until his recent illness. He is survived by his son Jim of Grafton, NH, a large extended family in North Carolina, and many friends around the globe.
A celebration of life will be announced when we can safely gather. Memorial donations may be made to Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders