Warren Buckingham Mitchell

Warren Buckingham Mitchell, 89, died peacefully on Thursday, August 25, 2016 after brief Hospice care. Born June 8, 1927 in Bridgeport, CT to Arthur Merwin Mitchell and Margretha Anderson Mitchell, he spent his boyhood in Stratford, CT and in Washington, CT at Painter Ridge, site of the family-owned Mitchell Dairy where he, his brother David and his cousin Ritchie engaged in as many antics as they could get away with while still looking out for his younger sister, Elizabeth. He played football for and graduated from the Gunnery. His family moved to Florida for a year and then to North Carolina where he attended NC State University before enlisting in the US Navy.

He married Grace Herndon of Myrtle Beach, SC and had three sons. During his career, Warren held financial management positions for Mitchell and Cumberland Dairies in North Carolina and for Grant-Patten Milk, Happy Valley Dairy and Cooke’s Furniture Company in Tennessee. He moved his family to Charlotte, NC for several years to work in his brother’s company, Personal Money Management, Inc., before returning to Tennessee and establishing his own accounting firm, Senior Services, which he managed until the time of his death.

Warren became a steadfast member of First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland where he served as a Deacon and an Elder of the church. He was a resident of Cleveland, TN for more than 50 years. During that time, he developed a very large network of friends, colleagues, and clients. He loved people and treasured their company daily. He was fond of saying, “I never met a stranger”, which was apparent by the number of people who, in turn, called him their friend. He valued family and friends above all else and his life revolved around it. Warren was dedicated to the lives of his children and grandchildren and was delighted when his family gathered from near and far for a reunion to celebrate his 80th birthday. Seeing all the children, cousins, grandchildren, great-grandchild, nieces, nephews and grand-nieces, he marveled at the breadth of his family. Some years after the death of his devoted wife, he was blessed once more with the love and companionship of Betty Herndon.

Warren was a person of no nonsense with solid ethics, a strong voice and a kind heart. A fiercely determined man, he lived independently, even driving himself to the hospital for needed surgeries and home again afterward. He had an offbeat sense of humor and enjoyed teasing family members and goading them, if he could. He was an avid bridge player and played duplicate bridge until the week before his death. Speaking with his brother and cousin about a month before his death, he remarked about the good life he’d had.

In addition to his wife, Grace, Warren was preceded in death by his son William Arthur Mitchell of Cleveland, TN, his sister, Elizabeth Gay Quinn of Raeford, NC and his nephew, Wesley Warren Mitchell of Charlotte, NC.

He is survived by his son, James David Mitchell, wife Melissa and their children, Katlyn, Zack and Matthew of Brentwood, TN; his son Eliot Meredith Mitchell, wife Becky of Spring Hill, TN and their children, Branden, Danielle, and Eliot, Jr. of the Washington, DC area; his granddaughter, Patricia Mitchell Linder and great-grandchildren Jasmine, Daisha, Demonte and Tanyia of Athens, TN; his brother, David Wesley Mitchell and wife, Jinny, his niece, Sharon Ann Mitchell and husband, Tom Parker, his nephew, David Tilden Arthur Mitchell and wife, Catherine of Charlotte, NC; his niece, Mary-lynn Mitchell of Davidson, NC; his nephew, Kipling Nash Maroney and wife, Rosalina of Raeford, NC; his cousin, Richard Jordan and wife, Mary of Tacoma, WA and his sweetheart, Betty Herndon of Murrells Inlet, SC.

Family visitation will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland from 2-3 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016.

A Memorial service to celebrate the life of Warren B. Mitchell will immediately follow the visitation at 3 pm.

Warren will be interred at Ocean Wood Cemetery in Myrtle Beach, SC on Sunday, September 4 at 3 pm. Condolences may be sent to all living relatives listed above and memorials to First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, TN.

The family is being served locally by Grissom- Serenity Funeral Home & Cremation Services.