Alan Kay Warr

Feb. 19, 1970 - Mar. 22, 2014

Date of Service: Mar. 29, 2014

Alan K. Warr

MALTA – From the first premature breath to the premature last breath, Alan Kay Warr, fought to live. His struggle through life was never easy, but he always came through with renewed determination to find peace and love. Always, his last words were, “Love you.” We shall miss you every day.

Alan was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Feb. 19, 1970, to loving parents, Olene Kay Warr and Janis Anne Hawkins Warr. He was welcomed home by his big sister, Stephanie Anne, and was later joined by brothers, Jason Charles and Gary Ryan. Childhood days were full of carefree abandonment and adventure on the farm in Malta, Idaho. Growing up on Keough Lane with wonderful neighbors and next door to Grandma and Grandpa Charles and Chloe Warr and beloved Uncle Skeet and Aunt Ronda Warr and their kids gave him a sense of belonging, a never-ending need to find that love of home. He often said from the lonely job-sites, “I just want to be home.”

Camping, fishing, sports, scouting, moving sprinkler pipes, doing the chores required on a dairy, and driving the equipment filled the years of his youth. Alan received the Arrow of Light and Eagle Scout award, mainly because of a dear friend and Scout leader, Rod Garner. Along the way, he made great friends – a trait that followed him to the end. He loved to work, another trait which over the long, hard years often saved him. The Denver Broncos and NASCAR brought him joy. His hero was Jeff Gordon.

Alan’s bright mind allowed him to sail through school without much trouble. He was a voracious reader of history and biographical works. From his earliest years, he loved music which lead him eventually to guitars and loud, raucous concerts. He attended Malta Elementary and graduated from Raft River High School in 1988. He attended Utah State University and the University of Utah for several years. During that time he went to work for a landscaping company in Salt Lake City and worked there for about six years before he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Moving from the pine trees and flowering meadows of Park City to the cactus and palm trees of the desert southwest allowed him a broad prospective of our beautiful earth.
In Arizona, he met and married Lisa Labato. Their beautiful son, Kross Alan, was born Oct. 31, 1999. Alan loved that little boy and every Halloween birthday found him carving intricate pumpkins in celebration of Kross’s life. Kross inherited a bright mind and love of guitars from his father and his many talents from his mother. Alan’s greatest sorrow in life has been missing the last eight years of Kross’s growing up. But he always loved him and sought ways to be reunited with his precious son.

After a number of years in landscaping, and a return to his old job in Salt Lake City, Alan found a new career which he loved –Tower cranes. A highly skilled operator and NCCCO certified, Alan helped to build the new Chobani plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, and the tallest building in Idaho, the new Zions Bank building in Boise. He loved sitting atop the world in that huge, blue crane. At the time of his death, he was building a hotel in Columbus, Ohio, and working for ProEnergy, a company he planned to stay with for as long as possible. His life ended doing a work he loved and making plans for a bright future.
Last November, Alan and all of his siblings and their children, celebrated his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in Kauai, Hawaii. It was the trip of a lifetime for all, and Alan was planning a return in November and gave much thought to buying a condo on the beach. But, most important, his nieces and nephews got to know their crazy and loving Uncle Alan who joined them in jumping off the highest cliffs into the roaring water below. They have become great friends.

Alan died on Saturday, March 22, 2014, in his hotel room in Columbus, Ohio, from a mysterious illness that may have begun in a mine in Safford, Ariz. He was extremely ill, but his last day ended with him planning to climb the tower the next morning.

He is survived by his son, Kross Alan Warr, of Gilbert, Ariz.; his parents, Olene and Janis Warr of Malta, Idaho; his sister, Stephanie (Brad) Jensen of Temecula, Calif.; his brothers, Jason (Wendee) Warr of Malta, Idaho, and Gary Warr of Jerome, Idaho; his nephews, Derek Jensen, who is serving a mission in Cuernevaca, Mexico, Hunter, Brendan, and Cole Jensen of Temecula, Calif., and Kaleb and Kwentin Warr of Malta, Idaho; his niece, Kassie Warr of Malta, Idaho, and his “adopted” niece, Shannon Cluff of Malta, Idaho; his aunts and uncles, Robert and Carole Hawkins of Wellsville, Utah, Beverly and Paul Ward of Elba, Idaho, and Ronda Warr Doman of Burley, Idaho; and his ex-wife, Lisa Warr of Gilbert, Ariz.

Alan was preceded in death by his grandparents, Charles and Chloe Bell Warr, and Lester and Vivian Bodrero Hawkins; his brother, Brian H. Warr; and his beloved Uncle Skeet Warr.

The funeral service will be held at 12 noon Saturday, March 29, at the Malta LDS Church in Malta. There will be a viewing from 10 until 11:45 a.m. preceding the funeral. Burial will be in the Valley Vu Cemetery in Malta.

Funeral services are under the direction of Rasmussen Funeral Home in Burley, Idaho.