Volunteer Rosemary Lewallen finds a treasured resident of La Palma with a history of service to country, love of family, and poetry inspired by the Word of God.
I am a volunteer with Health Ministry at St. Irenaeus Church, Cypress that has an outreach program at five long-term care facilities in the area. I coordinate the music and lead the singing at Sunrise Assisted Living in La Palma every Wednesday morning during a communion service offered by a team of Health Ministry volunteers.
Warren Sherwood Bennett, a 90-year-old resident, attended this service recently and asked if he could sing something for the group. I introduced him, not knowing what he would sing. He sang an opera aria from Puccini’s Pagliacci beautifully, but in English with different words that transformed it into a hymn. Warren had written the lyrics.
Astounded, I thanked him for his gift of song and asked him if I could interview him next Wednesday. He agreed. The following Wednesday, Warren came to the service and asked if he could share a poem that he wrote about Lent. It was inspiring.
Warren’s history
After the service, I interviewed him. Warren was born on Oct. 19, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Cal State Long Beach on the G.I. bill after World War II. He met his future wife at a dance there. He said that he had been looking in vain for the right girl. It was then that Warren decided to leave it up to God. That special night, he found his lifetime love, Betty.
They were married for 63½ years, had nine children, eight living — four sons and four daughters — one son died at age 20. He has 19 living grandchildren; two died, and 25 great-grandchildren. He had one great-great-grandchild who died from SIDS. His wife died on July 31, 2014. Warren’s health, both physically and emotionally declined drastically afterward.
 
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I asked Warren if he had formal musical training and he said “Not really.” In junior high school, he wanted to join the band, but didn’t know how to play an instrument. The only instrument left was the bassoon. The band director taught him about octaves and left Warren to figure out the bassoon playing for himself, which he did. He wrote an operetta called “In The Beginning,” based on the Gospel of St. John in 1965, a year after his son died.
Warren claimed to have overcome three addictions: girls, smoking and drinking.
The girls were easily given up after he met Betty.
Giving up smoking was harder, but he succeeded. At age 40 Warren was driving a truck delivering groceries. He said he looked out at the moon and remembered the commandment, “You shall have no false gods before me.” He had a pocket Bible New Testament. He pulled his truck over on the road, read from his New Testament, took out a cigarette, chewed it and spit it out. This creative combination of prayer and aversion therapy worked to have him quit smoking forever.
I asked Warren about his singing. He has a fine tenor voice. He wasn’t a professional opera singer, but sang some opera arias, sang in choirs, at piano bars and weddings.
He ran a grocery delivery business for 30 years. People gave him a list of needed groceries and he made sure they were delivered. This saved hard-working women time, money and energy. It was a unique business at that time. He had no local competition. He retired at age 62.
Poetry and song
Warren has written eleven published books of poetry, all copyrighted. He belongs to the International Society of Poets. Each of his books was inspired by the Bible, starting with the book of John. Warren said that he had a dream in which God told him to write these poetry books. He wants to write two more before he’s through. He showed me one of his books, The Major Prophets of the Bible, Isaiah and Ezekiel. You can order Warren’s books at Amazon.com.
Lastly, Warren told me that he wrote a Los Angeles city anthem, “Sunrise”, back when Mayor Bradley was mayor of L.A. He said that he also recorded the, “The Seven Last Words of Christ” on Capitol Records.
Truly, it has been an honor for me to get to know this hidden treasure of a man. Although I came to this assisted living residence to bring comfort and spiritual inspiration to residents, I found that often, as in this case, I have received far more from them. There are many more fascinating stories waiting to be told if people take the time to listen to our elders and share their stories. For more information about volunteering at care centers served by St. Irenaeus Health Ministry, call Grace Francis at 714-742-0960.
The article above was submitted by Rosemary Lewallen, M.S., Gerontology, California State University, Long Beach.
 St. Irenaeus parishioner Rosemary Lewallen with 90-year-old Poet Warren Sherwood Bennett. They are each holding a published book of his poetry. Photo by Edna Ethington. |
 Poet Warren S. Bennett at his computer in his room at Sunrise Assisted Living, La Palma. He said he just finished his 11th Book on Deuteronomy and Numbers, in his series of Books of the Bible in rhymed metered verse. His goal now is to complete two more books. Photo by Edna Ethington. |
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