William Tuttle Culver

Warren T. Culver bid farewell to this life 12 February 2016 while in the loving arms of family members. His legacy continues through his wife Katherine; his children: Ronald (and wife Leigh) of Prescott Valley, AZ, Lee (and wife Martha) of Marietta, GA, Barbara of Lawrence, KS, Warren Jr. of Ft. Myers, FL, James (and wife Mona) of Congress, AZ; his grandchildren: Coleen, Jason, Barry, Katherine, Kacey, Warren, Kaylee; his great grandchildren: Nicholas, Ryan, Holly, Chloe and his sister Marian Phillips of Westhampton, NY. He is preceded in death by his parents Herbert and Katharine, sister Amy Terry, brothers Arthur, Hallock and Herbert.
Born January 11, 1920 on Long Island, NY, the fourth of six children to Herbert R. and Katharine H. Culver, Warren grew up in Westhampton, NY, on the shores of Long Island. During his young adult years he excelled as a high school wrestler; joined Boy Scouts of America, eventually becoming a Life Scout; worked one summer as a lifeguard at Westhampton Beach; raced sailboats in Moriches Bay, Long Island; and worked in his father’s plumbing business and the family duck farm.
The family lived through the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and out of those circumstances emerged a young man of Christian faith displaying steadiness, strength, confidence, and unshakable belief in the value of hard work and affinity for one’s fellow man… all of which Warren attributed to the lifelong example set by his mother and father.
Surrounded by positive influences and loving family, Warren decided to enter medicine. He began his undergraduate education at Maryville College, TN, and it was there he met his love, Katherine Ann Garvin. Graduating cum laude from Maryville he was accepted at the Long Island College of Medicine (now, State University of New York). While in medical school, he and Katherine married, July 1944.
Graduating in 1946, Warren entered military active duty as a physician, spending a total of 26 years serving his nation in the United States Air Force and becoming a board-certified ophthalmologist. He served as Chief Flight Surgeon and commanded several USAF hospitals.
Warren’s career included flying in B-29’s as a flight surgeon with USAF Hurricane Hunters while stationed at Kindley Field, Bermuda. As Chief of Ophthalmology at the School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph AFB, he also participated in the testing of the first hydrogen (atmospheric) bomb detonated by this nation at Johnson Island, evaluating its ophthalmic effects. While stationed at Norton AFB he examined and treated the eyes of former President Dwight Eisenhower. During the course of his career he cared for the eye health of thousands of military men and women at Air Force hospitals within the US and overseas.
Following retirement from active duty in 1968 as commander of the USAF hospital, Forbes, Topeka, KS, Warren and Katherine bought a home in Lawrence where he opened a private medical practice. He served the needs of Lawrence and surrounding communities as an ophthalmologist for the next 17 years, retiring from private practice in 1985.
Warren continued service to his fellow man by delivering, with Katherine, “Meals on Wheels” for 15 years, as well as serving as a Hospice volunteer for many years. He brought comfort and peace to dying individuals in a manner in which he was thoroughly steeped… that of a Christian physician. and, to dying World War II aviators struggling with events of a long-ago war, he brought the perspective and the comfort of a military flight surgeon. Warren was named Hospice Volunteer of the Year during his period of service.
As a life-long Christian and former Sunday School teacher, Warren and Katherine both joined the First United Methodist Church, Lawrence, upon their move to Lawrence in 1968. There, Warren faithfully worshipped and supported its ministers and its missions until the very end while engaging in philanthropic efforts with a number of organizations.
The trajectory of his life was one of service … service to his nation and to his fellow man as a senior military officer, physician, and humanitarian. If asked, Warren would say that his greatest accomplishment was winning the love of Katherine; love which they, in turn bestowed upon their five children as they imparted Christian values through daily behavior and teaching.
“He never focused on what he could extract from this life; he focused on what he could give” … aptly describes Warren Culver during his time on this earth. The grief at the passing of our father is, at times, unbearable … but, we rejoice that this very good man once lived.
May God bless Warren Tuttle Culver … and welcome him home.