Baby Warren in 1929.
Our dad, Warren Martens, grew up an only child in the Borough of Queens in New York City. His father Gustave, who was also an only child, held a variety of sales and management positions throughout the years with long stints at U.S. Steel, Edo Aircraft and Alcoa Aluminum. His mother was a devout Christian woman and full-time mom who claimed (a bit tongue-in-cheek, we think) that she had been a flapper during the 20's before settling down to raise Dad.
At age 15, Warren received his calling to enter the ministry. In the meantime he attended an accelerated program at Flushing High School and graduated in 1946 instead of 1947, then left Queens, NY for Pella College in Iowa. After graduating from Pella he attended New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He was completing his studies in Philadelphia when he met a young lady from West Virginia named Margaret who was there completing her nursing studies. They married in 1953.
Baby Warren in 1929.
Warren and two admirers at a Long Island beach circa 1932.
WATCH LITTLE WARREN AND FAMILY AT THE BEACH IN 1932!
(This clip has a soundtrack)
Warren in 1939 or '40, acting in one of his father's home movie comedies.
Warren at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Warren the Scout - 1941.
With Pete. Note the scout portrait on the console behind him.
Proud to be a student at Flushing High.
With a friend, Gloria Lopez, at his 1946 graduation from Flushing High School
WATCH THIS HOME MOVIE of WARREN'S 1946 GRADUATION!
(this clip is silent)
Who's this? It's Dottie H-----------, Warren's high school sweetheart.
But in the end it was Margaret Hunt from West Virginia took the prize.
Boy Scouts in 1946. Left to right: Larry Jerkowitz, Warren,
Larry Stern, Johnny Weinz, Billy Blumberg.
During the 1940's, Warren spent many summers as a staff member at Ten Mile River
Scout Camp in the Caatskill region of New York State. Specifically, he was a
staff member of a sub-division called Camp Man which was for scouts from the
Borough of Queens.
All the scouts seen in the previous photo are here posing with their visiting
parents. (Warren's father, presumably, was taking the picture).
And here's the full Camp Man staff from 1948. Warren sits second to the right
of the white-coated doctor. The man second from left in the front row was the
camp Rabbi.
"The Order of the Arrow," a prestigious scouting service
unit. Note the arrow sashes they're all wearing.
Warren stands at extreme right. He acheived the rank of Second Degree.
There is obviously some ceremony or at least a power chant going on.
The participants are (moving right to left):
Warren,
Pierre Thyert (in buffalo horns),
Irving Kohn,
Unknown,
John Davis (in all-white suit) who was the scoutmaster of Warren's Troop 20,
Unknown,
Unknown,
Myron "Mike" Siner.
Everybody else from Myron to the far left of the picture is unknown.
As Warren recalls, his scouting career can be described briefly
as:
1941 - became a Tenderfoot
By 1947: attained positions of Assistant Campmaster of the Central Division,
and Provisional Scoutmaster.
The highest scouting rank he achieved was Life Scout, which was just one step
below Eagle.
Warren recalls that during the war, "Pop" Kline, one
of the senior leaders, would always announce "I'm going to bomb Tokyo"
whenever he went to the latrine to make "number 2."
Warren was in the canteen when somebody ran in to announce the
destruction of Hiroshima.
"They used a bomb no bigger than a grapefruit!" that person said.
Crystal Lake as seen from Camp Man's waterfront.
HERE'S WARREN THE PROUD SCOUT in 1946
(This clip is silent)
1947 saw Warren's last stay at Camp Man. The following year, 1948, he stayed home in Queens for the summer and took two courses at Queens College: "Logic" and "The Sociology of the Family". Later that year, he moved to Pella, Iowa to attend Central College.
Here's Warren (at right) with friends at Central College, dressed
up for Sadie Hawkins Day.
Never heard of Sadie Hawkins Day?
That's was the one day of the year when the tables were turned and the women
chased the men!
Up until the 1960's it was very popular on college campuses throughout the USA
and traditionally held on the first Saturday after November 19th.
Times have changed, and I wonder if it's still celebrated anywhere.
Back in College Point . . . hey, look at THIS!
For a short period in his youth, Warren experimented with - horror of horrors!
- tobacco.
But only in a pipe, so today he can honestly say he never inhaled!
Newlyweds Warren Martens and Margaret Hunt with Warren's cousin Cathy, 1953
WATCH THIS WONDERFUL HOME MOVIE OF WARREN AND MARGARET'S WEDDING.
Be sure your sound is turned on!
At Oyster Bay, Long Island, in 1953.
The newlyweds with Warren's parents Gus and Margaret, 1953.
Dad served as Minister at churches in Callicoon Center, NY; Levittown, NY; Wayne,
NJ; and West Nyack, NY.
Here's Dad circa 2001, newly retired and living with Mom out in the country.
But it looks like he still has a congregation!
REV. MARTENS' LIFE IN
THE MINISTRY
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