Dr. William H. Warren, 66, died on Dec. 17, 2016, in The Ada F. Addington Hospice CareCenter in Chicago. He was born on Nov 4, 1951 in Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Warren’s passion for medicine began when he accompanied his father on Sunday rounds at the hospital in his hometown of Toronto. He graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1976, completed training in general surgery at the same institution in 1981, following which he completed a fellowship in the department of pathology at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in 1982. He then embarked upon a fellowship in cardiovascular-thoracic surgery under the direction of Dr. Hassan Najafi. In 1985, Dr. Warren was appointed to the staff of the department.
Full professorships in pathology and surgery led to academic as well as clinical accomplishments. One of his major contributions was the reclassification of cell types of lung cancer. The study elucidated the origin and lineage of these tumors, which resulted in a significant impact on the treatment of patients with lung cancer.
Dr. Warren held many positions of leadership, including director of general thoracic surgery at Rush and division head of thoracic surgery at Cook County Hospital. Though he received many national and international honors, he was especially proud of teaching awards given to him by his students.
He married Karen Kole, an accomplished tax attorney and law professor. They settled in a historic house in River Forest and raised two sons, Michael and Tyler. He continued to live in his beloved home after the passing of his first wife in 2008.
Bill developed a later passion in life for cooking, and the kitchen became the heart of his home. Cooking also brought him closer to his second wife, Martine Derom, whom he married in 2009. Best friends, their courtship spilled over into her native Belgium, when he visited her family and spent an entire day cooking an elaborate dinner, not realizing his future mother-in-law, who also had a sense of humor, kept the salt in a jar labeled “sucre.”
In addition to cooking, Bill enjoyed collecting stamps and constructing model railroads. He regularly attended the opera with colleagues. And whenever he got his hands on a rare Beatles or Beach Boys recording, he sent it to friends so that when they came to visit, they could discuss it over a bottle of wine.
Dr. Warren is survived by his wife, Martine Derom; a sister, Marcia McCallum (Bruce); a brother, Bob Warren; two sons, Michael and Tyler Warren; three stepchildren, Anne Selin (Ivan), Sophie and Lawrence De Geest; and two grandchildren, Sasha and Katya Selin.
A private memorial was held at his home.