Prof

Chris Warden

So after several months of inactivity, here I am again.  Unfortunately, this first post of the new year will not a happy one.   Like a post back in August, this one is going to be about someone who affected my life.

I got a phone call from Greg Phillips on Sunday afternoon about Professor Warden.  Greg told me that they were going to take him off life support.  That shocked me a little because I didn't even know that he had been ill.  He passed away later Sunday night.

Turns out he had fallen in the shower a few weeks ago and broke his hip.  He had to have surgery, but there were complications.  He was a hemophiliac (I had no idea), and apparently things went downhill from there.

In addition to being just a teacher of mine, he was also my advisor for the years I was in the school of journalism.  Any time I needed some advice, he was there.  Classes, assignments, whatever.  Occasionally, I'd get a glimpse into Prof the person - whether it was after class, sitting around eating pizza and putting the Trop together, managing our team for the Trop-Trojanvision softball game, or the end-of-the-year excursion.

Now that I think about it, there was so much more to him than I knew.  He had a ton of real-world experience that he drew on to teach his classes, but I never really took the time to get the backstory.  Speaking of his classes, they were tough.  But they weren't tough because he wanted you to fail — they were tough because he wanted you to be good.  Somehow, I always managed to pull an A out.

I knew him as my advisor, teacher and person, but I wish I had known him better.  Thanks, Prof, for all you did.  We'll miss you.