[dropcap sid=”dropcap-1415213362″]J[/dropcap]oseph Warren (’35) has experienced a lot in his lifetime, from pursuing multiple professions to witnessing such major technological changes as the invention of color photography and the introduction of the iPhone. And while he’s embraced some of the latest electronic gadgets, he still retains some old-fashioned preferences. Indeed, this newly minted centenarian (his birthday was October 10) is hard to pin down. What else would you expect from a one-time collegiate wrestler?
As a student at the former City College of New York (CCNY) School of Business and Civic Administration (now Baruch), Warren pulled his weight and then some while earning a BBA in accounting. From 1932 to 1935, he was the undefeated champion of the College’s then-thriving intercollegiate varsity wrestling squad and was the first CCNY matman sent to the national collegiate championships. In his final year, Warren was chosen as team captain, and after graduating, he returned for a spell as the coach.
Despite his weight class of 155 pounds, Warren at times wrestled with more “substantial” opponents. If the coach thought Warren had the best chance against a particular wrestler, in he would go—regardless of weight class. “Once they put me against the heavyweight,” Warren recounts. “The bout lasted 40 seconds. I pinned him, and the crowd went wild. He was well over 200 pounds!” That win was so impressive that The Ticker wrote an article endorsing Warren as a student council representative, a position for which he wasn’t even a candidate. He was elected council president.
After graduating from CCNY, Warren enrolled in law school, but he put his education on hold after a year. He taught accounting in New York City high schools and then served in the military. A decade later, he returned to law school and earned his degree. He eventually formed Joseph Warren & Company, a certified public accounting firm from which he retired at age 75. “Baruch gave me a good, free education in accounting,” he says.
Nowadays, Warren spends his time taking walks, exercising, and handling legal affairs for a few of his long-term clients. He also uses a tablet for e-mail and downloading some of his favorite symphonies. (“I don’t like hip-hop,” he says.) His wife of 70 years (“She was a Hunter girl”) died in 2011, and Warren lives with one of his daughters in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Asked about his birthday wish to mark his 100 years, he says, “I’d like the world to come to peace so our kids will be able to live without fear.”
—Barbara Lippman
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