Warren Keeler Greene passed away on June 13, 2022 after a valiant fight against cancer. He defied the predictions of numerous oncology specialists and survived over fourteen years to welcome two beautiful granddaughters, Sarah and Abigail, walk his beloved daughter, Charlotte Bernice, down the aisle to marry Michael Hunton, and walk his devoted American Eskimo, Aspen, around Havemayer Park in Old Greenwich, much to the delight of his neighbors.
He was a beloved father, grandfather, husband, uncle, friend and community leader. Warren had an extended blended family across the world. He is survived by his wife, Louisa (Surut Carey) and three children who he was so proud of: Warren K. Greene, Jr. (Heather) and their girls, Sarah and Abigail of Emmaus, PA; Dr. Andrew R. Carey and his wife Dr. Brandi Page of Bethesda, MD, and Charlotte Greene Hunton (Michael) of Boston, MA. His extended West Coast family includes Mark & Chris Deffebach; Donn Deffebach; Paul and Karen Deffebach and their children. His parents, and his sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn and Roy Deffebach, pre-deceased him.
Born in Portland, Oregon to Elbert Hinish Greene and Bernice Hamilton Greene, he graduated from Ainsworth School, Lincoln High and Oregon State University in Corvallis in 1958 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Corps of Engineers, graduating from the Engineers Officers basic course at Fort Belvoir, VA., where he completed his active duty as a platoon leader.
Warren moved to New York City and started his investment career with The First Boston Corporation in 1959. He fulfilled a childhood dream of working in the investment world on Wall Street. While working at First Boston, he completed his MBA at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He also served as a reserve officer with the 77th Infantry Division, 302nd Engineer Battalion as a company commander, completing a seven- year military obligation in He loved to regale his family with stories about his summer reserve duty at Camp Drum, NY.
In 1965 he joined the American Investors Corporation headed by George Chestnut, which was the investment advisor to the American Investors Fund, an early no-load mutual fund. While there he founded three other mutual funds and was also was one of the founders of the No-Load Mutual Fund Association and served as its president from 1977-1979. Upon the retirement of the founder of American Investors, Warren was named president in 1985. After American Investors was sold in 1993, Warren was a portfolio manager with TrendLogic (now NorthCoast Asset Management), an investment adviser in Greenwich. In 2006 he started his own securities trading firm in Stamford. He assisted two investment advisors to establish no-load mutual funds, EII Realty Trust and Renaissance Capital Greenwich Funds, and served on their board of directors.
One of his fondest memories was the day Renaissance Capital went public, and he and Louisa were on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to see the Smiths hit the gavel to open the market. The Renaissance IPO ETF began trading under the ticker “IPO” on the NYSE Arca exchange in 2013. Warren retired in May 2022 after an amazing 63 years of working in the markets and IPO industry.
Warren was very active in the Greenwich community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Greenwich Council, Boy Scouts of America. He was a member of the Rotary Club of Greenwich for over forty years and served as president the year his daughter was born, giving Rotarians great joy. He volunteered for forty years at Christ Church Greenwich, where he dedicated his talents to the Endowment Committee, which he chaired from 1998 to 2004, and to the Arbor Society guiding parishioners on the importance of estate planning. One of his passions was film, having grown up at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Portland, OR where his father was an investor in the 1950s and 1960s. He and Louisa spent many happy years at the Avon Theatre Film Center in Stamford. He relished seeing THE DUKE at the Avon only days before he entered hospice care.
Warren will be cherished by many friends and colleagues from coast to coast. He was especially fond of his Ainsworth classmates in Portland, OR and was the host for many cocktail parties over decades. His last wish before he died was for a scotch and soda. His family asks that you honor Warren with a toast sipping your favorite cocktail.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 1:00pm at Christ Church Greenwich, 254 E. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT. Military Salute and Taps at 2:00pm followed by
a festive reception at the historic Tomes-Higgins House next to the church.
Parking is available at the church. Please wear bright colors in celebration of Warren.
Memorial Gifts – Please consider honoring Warren with a charitable donation to his favorite “homes away from home”: Christ Church Greenwich – In Memory of WKG https://onrealm.org/ParishChristChu/-/form/give/now or the Avon Theatre Film Center www.avontheatre.org/donate/