Obituary of Rev. Warren Gregory Elliott
The Rev. Warren Gregory Elliott, KCHS (Lt. Col, USAF Retired)
Husband, father, grandfather, deacon, and priest. Born on March 24, 1938, in Manhattan to William Gordon Elliott and Patricia Lawson Elliott, died September 17, 2023, in Houston, Texas. Raised in The Bronx and Baldwin, Long Island, he was a graduate of St. Agnes High School, Rockville Center. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve shortly before enrolling in Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Md., where he earned a B.S. in Education in 1960.
He enlisted in the United States Air Force and was later commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served 24 years in the Air Force, which included service as a Titan II missile launch officer, as a maintenance squadron commander, and in the 12th Air Force Office of the Inspector General. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, at Bergstrom AFB, Austin, Texas, in 1984. His military honors include a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. While stationed at James Connally AFB, Waco, Texas in 1963 he married Janette Irene Malone of San Antonio. They were married for 33 years.
A devout Catholic, he was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by the Most Rev. Rene H. Gracida at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola, Fla., in 1983. After retiring from the Air Force, he entered full-time ministry as a deacon. He served as a pastoral associate at St. William’s Catholic Church, Round Rock, Texas before training to become a hospital chaplain through the CPE programs at the Austin State Hospital, Austin, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston. He served as a chaplain at Ben Taub General Hospital and at several hospices in the Houston area. Widowed in 1996, he became a chaplain at St. Francis Hospital, Tulsa, Okla. In 1998, after discernment and acting with the blessing of his late wife, he was accepted as a seminarian by the Diocese of Tulsa and enrolled at Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, LA. He was ordained to the Priesthood by the Most Rev. Edward J. Slattery at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa in July 2000. He served as parochial vicar at St. John’s Parish in Bartlesville and as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Miami, Okla. before becoming Director of Pastoral Care at Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville. After retiring from full-time ministry, he assisted at St. Timothy's Church in Lady Lake, Fla., and other parishes serving The Villages, Fla. He was a regular volunteer with the Apostleship of the Sea of the United States, serving as a cruise ship priest.
Father Gregg was a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. A member of the Knights of Columbus, he served as Chaplain and as Friar of multiple councils and assemblies. Along with his degree from Mount St. Mary’s, he earned a second bachelor's from St. Leo's University and master's degrees from Auburn University and Notre Dame Seminary of New Orleans.
He was preceded in death by his wife Janette and by their twin newborn sons William Otis and Warren Bennett. He is survived by son and daughter-in-law W. Ben and Michael Ann Elliott, daughter and son-in-law Patricia Elliott Stewart and John Stewart, son William G. Elliott II, KCHS, son and daughter-in-law Robert S. Elliott and Scarlette Holley, along with four grandchildren and four bonus grandchildren: Devin, W. Alexander, and Braden Elliott, & Irene Stewart and Olivia, Abigail, Harrison, and Angelique Mellard. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, along with his brother priests and deacons of the Diocese of Tulsa, and his former housemates at the Archbishop Fiorenza retired priest residence, Houston.
A Visitation and Rosary will be held on Monday, September 25, at 9:00 a.m. in the Warren Chapel, St. Dominic Village, 2401 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. On Tuesday, September 26, he will be reunited with his beloved Janette following a committal service with military honors to be held at Shelter One, Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, Texas at 2 p.m.
Donations may be made to the Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation, Washington, DC (www.birthplaceofhope.org). The family would like to thank the staff of St. Dominic Village and the Archdiocesan Clergy Pastoral Outreach staff, particularly CPO director John Descant. The family would also like to give particular thanks to his devoted caregiver, Rosa Taylor.