Services tomorrow for civil rights negotiator

Assistant public defender Ray Warren of Volusia County reported to Historic City News that a memorial service for his father, Dan R. Warren, would be held tomorrow, Friday September 23, at the historic Volusia County Courthouse in Deland at 3:00 p.m.

Warren, who would have turned 86 years-old in less than a month, died Sunday at Halifax Health Medical Center.

Warren, whose son said never retired from the active practice of law, was a well-known figure during St. Augustine’s civil rights movement; serving as state attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit for five years, from 1963-1968. As a prosecutor and special counsel to Florida Governor Farris Bryant in 1964, Warren negotiated with state officials and Martin Luther King Jr. to defuse an explosive reaction to desegregation in St. Augustine.

Paul Wills, an Associated Press reporter in the 60’s, wrote, “Warren undertook what became a key role in stopping the race violence in America’s oldest city.”

Haigh-Black Funeral Home in Ormond Beach, who is handling the arrangements for the Warren family, asked that memorial donations be made to The Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine Inc., in care of Richard P. Burton, Chairman, P.O. Box 3995, St. Augustine, FL 32085-3995.

Warren is survived by four sons; Raymond, Dan Warren, a CPA with Olivari and Associates; Joseph Warren, an attorney with Warren and Warren; and Adam Warren, an assistant state attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit and two daughters; Christine Warren, an assistant public defender in the 9th Judicial Circuit and Dr. Ruth Warren, of Green Bay, WI. Other surviving family members include two brothers: Robert ‘Max’ Warren and Joseph Warren; one sister, Sara Comer; and 12 grandchildren.

To learn more about Dan Warren, read his 2008 book, “If it takes all Summer: Martin Luther King, the KKK, and States’ Rights in St. Augustine, 1964”.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News archive photograph