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Warren H. Glenn  1960

Cullum No. 22921-1960 | November 4, 2017 | Died in Colorado Springs, CO
Cremated. Interred in USAFA Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO


Warren Henry “Buzz(y)” Glenn was born in Wister, OK to schoolteachers John Edward and Anna Mae (Howery) Glenn and died in Colorado Springs, CO from the ravages of Parkinson’s disease. He acquired his nickname, “Buzz,” from his older brother, John, who couldn’t pronounce “brother” and substituted “buzzer.” The name stuck, and he was known as Buzz his entire life. He graduated as valedictorian from Howe High School in Howe, OK. He received his appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY from Representative Carl Albert. At West Point, he was an outstanding athlete, a starter for the varsity wrestling squad, and a member of the Ordnance, Pistol, and Weightlifting clubs. As a cadet, he escorted Anita Bryant to the 1959 Miss America Beauty Pageant.
He was, undoubtedly, the most physically fit member of his class. He did well in academics but excelled in athletics. When reveille sounded at 0550, Buzzy knocked off a set of pullups before his feet had even hit the floor for the first time of the day. When Army defeated Navy at wrestling in 1960, Buzzy won at 147 pounds. The Indoor Obstacle Course is a rite of passage that brings fear to the hearts (and nausea to the stomachs) of hundreds of stalwart competitors. It remains essentially unchanged to this day. When Buzzy broke the record, it was one that had stood for 25 years since “Mr. Inside,” Glenn Davis, held it in the mid-’40s. Then Buzzy broke it again. He also scored highest in the class on the Physical Fitness Test. Buzzy did not abandon that extreme self-discipline after graduation. At the black-tie dinner-dance at our 40th reunion Buzzy wore his unaltered cadet full dress uniform, which earned him glowering glances from those of us who had added 50 percent to our waistlines in those four decades.
Buzzy’s mind-over-matter competitiveness served him well one winter morning at breakfast. Mealtime for plebes was a formal, unpleasant event. The rare occasions when they could “Fall Out” and sit and eat normally were greatly savored. Tradition held that, when there were bowls of prunes on the tables, a plebe could earn a “Fall Out” for himself and his classmates on the table by eating 100 prunes. Each additional prune meant an extra day. It required rounding up prunes from other tables, but Buzzy ate 107. After breakfast, he drank a bit of warm, soapy water, purged the prunes, wiped his face, and marched off to class.
Buzzy was known for two personality traits that are diametrically opposed and do not often coexist in the same person: He was a fiercely competitive warrior who pressed forward when injured, and he was the kindest, most considerate gentleman you would ever meet in normal social environments. He was a generous team player who would take on the unpopular jobs that no one else wanted and do them well.
The Class of 1960 marked a part of that transition period in the early ’60s as USAFA came online to produce academy graduates for the Air Force. Buzzy was commissioned a second lieutenat in the Air Force along with about 50 classmates. He served as a Minuteman ICBM launch crew commander at Malmstrom AFB, MT as an Air Force engineer with NASA in Houston, and as a project manager at the Air Force Space and Missile Center in Los Angeles. He received his MS in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University and taught electrical engineering at the Air Force Academy. While there, he was the office representative for the USAFA wrestling team. He later served as head of the Space and Missile Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, NM.
After retirement in 1980, he continued working in the space and missile field. He worked for the BDM Corporation, TRW, Northrup Grumman, Overlook Systems and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He lived in Albuquerque, NM; Arlington, VA; Los Angeles, CA; Oklahoma City, OK; and Colorado Springs, CA.
In 1987 Buzzy met Britannia (Brita) Bogie in Albuquerque. With one of his more enlightened decisions, he married her in 1990. With her master’s in education, Brita was a dedicated high school English teacher in Albuquerque and later in Colorado Springs. Theirs was a warm and supportive union. They enjoyed their time-shares, cruises and other types of travel. As Buzz’s Parkinson’s disease manifested itself, Brita became a committed and loving caregiver.
Buzzy was preceded in death by his parents and by his older brother, John. He is survived by the light of his life, Brita; his sister-in-law, Bobbie; his brother James and his wife, Gaye; his sister, Margaret Vandever; and his youngest brother, Thomas. He is also survived by his dearest cousin, Presley Askew, and his wife, Patti, as well as by numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews; and by many friends, classmates and loved ones. Buzz has been interred at the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery. A memorial service with full military honors was held there on April 26, 2018.
Buzz was a gentle soul, an unrelenting competitor, a good friend to hundreds of classmates, and a rocket scientist. Well Done, Buzz; Be Thou at Peace.
— Brita Glenn, Frank Cloutier and classmates

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