Allan B. Warren III ’69

Allan died on the evening of Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024, the 51st anniversary of his ordination as an Episcopal priest. He was admitted to hospice in Reading, Mass., just three days earlier.

Allan was born in Charlottesville, Va., where his father was a doctor, and he graduated from Spartanburg (S.C.) High School. At Princeton, Allan majored in religion and took part in the Procter Foundation, which serves Episcopalian students. He ate at Colonial and is remembered as being fun and entertaining. Later in his life, his congregants would cite his expansive and ebullient personality, as well as his resonant voice and passionate delivery.

He attended the General Theological Seminary in New York and was ordained a deacon in 1972 and priest in 1973. Allan was appointed curate of the Church of the Transfiguration in New York in 1974, and over the next 25 years he served in pastoral roles in Paris, France; Waban and Boston, Mass.; and New York. 

In 1999, Allan was named rector of the Church of the Advent in Boston, where he served until his retirement in 2017. During his tenure as rector, Church of the Advent was known as an exemplar of Anglo-Catholic worship and music. Allan was a mentor to many young priests and was an inspiration to his parishioners and his many friends who will long remember his faithful witness.

Allan loved movies, cooking, and long bike rides. In 1981, he married Polly Brodie, and their happy years together included summers at their old farmhouse in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Polly predeceased him in 2007.