Mr. Gilbert Warren Boone of Spring Hope, died on November 28, 2024, at the age of 90. 

He was born on September 15, 1934, in the community of White Oak in Nash County, the last of five children born to Elizabeth “Bettie” Warren Boone and Gilbert Wayner Boone. Warren grew up in White Oak and attended public schools in Nash County. He graduated from Spring Hope High School in 1951 where he met Lois Turner. Warren and Lois were married in September 1952, lived seventy-two years together and raised four children.

After graduating from high school, Warren attended North Carolina State College, earning a B.S. degree in Agronomy. He served as an Assistant County Agent in Person County until 1959, when he and Lois bought a farm near Spring Hope in the Gold Valley community. He and Lois managed the farm on which he lived until his death. Warren began teaching at Middlesex High School in 1964. He was one of the first teachers at Southern Nash High School when it opened in 1968. While at Middlesex, Warren went back to North Carolina State University and earned his Master's degree in Education, becoming a certified guidance counselor. He spent thirty-one years serving the Nash County Public School System, teaching for twenty-one years until becoming an Environmental Projects Manager for the System before his retirement. Among the many subjects he taught were Agriculture, Landscaping, Horticulture and Technical Drafting.

Warren loved Spring Hope, Nash County, and his farm. Wherever he was, he was surrounded by people, and he was usually the center of attention. He had encyclopedic knowledge of plants and farming. He was a consummate storyteller and prankster to his friends. There was never a need to announce his presence as laughter and excitement always came into the room with him.

He and Lois loved gardening, and it was often said that Lois grew beautiful tomatoes, and Warren secretly picked them and gave them away to his many friends in Spring Hope! For both together believed that no person should be in need if Warren and Lois could provide something for them.

Warren instinctively joined any organization whenever he thought he could assist. In the 1960’s he was Man of the Year in the Spring Hope Jaycees. In the 1970’s he volunteered to film every Southern Nash football game for several years. Later he served as Chair of the Nash County Republican Party and Chair of the Nash County School Board. He tirelessly promoted the Spring Hope Historical Museum and was sometimes the main attraction there on Sunday afternoons. Always outspoken, he was devoted to any cause he believed in, of which there were many, if the cause benefited the community.

Warren had a special aversion to wearing shoes. Family members pleaded with him to wear shoes to church, school and formal events, to which he usually complied. His choice of natural footwear was the subject matter of articles in the Greensboro News and Record and WRAL’s program, “The Tar Heel Traveler.” He would brashly prop up his feet to display the grass stains, dirt and other detritus he collected on his daily journeys.

Warren lived his life with an ardent love for his community and all of its citizens. He expected others to do the same. For his love for the people of the town and county in which he lived, he will be most remembered.

His immediate family members are his wife, Lois Turner Boone of Spring Hope; two sons, David Warren Boone and wife, Ellen Andrews Boone of Raleigh and Michael Wayne Boone and wife, Callie Perry Boone of Spring Hope; and two daughters, Beth Carol Boone of Houston, Texas and Amy Kay Boone of Spring Hope. He was a special grandfather and great-grandfather to five grandchildren, one step-grandchild, one great-grandchild, and a beloved uncle to numerous nieces and nephews. Most of all, he was a native son of Spring Hope and Nash County and a friend to so many in those communities.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. at Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church in Spring Hope, North Carolina. Donations in Warren’s memory may be made to White Oak United Methodist Church, Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church, and the Spring Hope Historical Museum.

The family would like to express its gratitude to Amedisys Hospice Care of Greenville for its kind and loving care to Warren.