Warren was born on August 12, 1920, on the family farm near Chelsea, Iowa, to Jay and Cora Metz Ryan. At the age of 4, he moved with his family to a farm near Grinnell where he was raised and attended rural school near his farm home. He was a 1938 graduate of Grinnell High School. During World War II he enlisted, in 1943, with the Army Air Corp and flew 35 missions with the 8th Air Force, 96th Bomb Group in the European Theater until his discharge in 1945. During his military service he was awarded the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the European Theater of Operations and the World War II Victory Medal. On May 24, 1944, he was married to Clara L. Larsen, in Grinnell. The couple operated a grain and livestock farm in the Grinnell and Malcom areas. He was named Master Hog Producer in Iowa by WHO. The couple retired and moved to Grinnell, living at Park Place and later at Seeland Park. During his retirement he attended AIB in Des Moines and took some classes in tax preparation and then was employed part-time with H & R Block in Grinnell and during the winter months in Arizona. He had been a member of the Chester Congregational Church and the Madison Church of Christ and most recently with the Grinnell Christian Church. He was also a member of the Farm Bureau, the Malcom Co-op Elevator Board of Directors, past president of the Poweshiek County 4-H Board, and past chairman of the Grinnell General Hospital Board. Survivors include his wife, Clara Ryan of Grinnell; his children and their spouses, Kay and Joseph Krause of Sedona, Arizona, Judy Wiedermann of Pasadena, California, and James and Pam Ryan of Phoenix, Arizona; five grandchildren, Kim (Clint) Morris, Scott Slagle, Kristin (Joseph) Cotton, Timothy (Ashley) Ryan and Katie (Brian) Goodall; two great grandchildren, Lily Cotton and Ethan Goodall; and his three sisters, Alta Buck, Wilma Lincoln and Marjorie Halstead, all of Grinnell. He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers, Harry and Wayne Ryan. Memorials may be directed to Grinnell Regional Medical Center or to the Grinnell Christian Church.