Members of SNS will be saddened to learn that Robert (Bob) Warren, one of the Society’s Rivis Vice Presidents, died peacefully in Ipswich Hospital on 1st November 2003. Bob’s health had been gradually declining throughout 2003 owing to kidney problems.
SNS members will remember Bob principally as Suffolk’s County Bird Recorder from 1985 to 1991, a role that he carried out, typically, with devotion and integrity. Bob and his family had moved from Essex to Suffolk in 1972 when his employer, Guardian Royal Exchange, now AXA, moved its headquarters from London to Ipswich. After his retirement in 1979 Bob took over as Recorder for the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group and was the obvious successor to Derek Moore as Suffolk’s Bird Recorder in 1985.
Bob was very humble, gentle and unassuming, qualities that appear to be in short supply in today’s world. He was a committed Christian and his faith shone through in everything he did and said. His main ornithological interest was the study of common species and he fastidiously recorded the avifauna of his various local patches. These included Christchurch Park and Akenham when he lived in Ipswich, then The Grove and Felixstowe Ferry, following his move to Felixstowe in 1985.
Bob had struggled with hearing problems for many years, a disability that caused him much sadness as the number of species of singing birds he could hear diminished. This partial deafness had also resulted in his never learning to drive, and a total reliance on public transport to get him further afield, something we should surely applaud as the effects of global warming become more apparent.
Bob’s wife Dorothy died in 1997, coincidentally on Saturday November 1st. He leaves two sons, Geoffrey and David, daughter-in-law Alison and grandsons Andrew and Christopher, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy.
A more extensive tribute will be in the 2003 Suffolk Bird Report, which is due for publication in late 2004.
© 2003 Suffolk Naturalists' Society