On November 10, 1948, Wes Warren’s wedding day, he was given a
glimpse into his future and he didn’t even know it.
On November 10, 1948, Wes Warren’s wedding day, he was given a glimpse into his future and he didn’t even know it.
“My wife was kidding with the priest and he asked her ‘Ramona, how many kids do you think you’ll have?’ and she replied ‘Oh, maybe a dozen,'” he said. “I guess you should be careful what you wish for.”
Today, Warren is the proud father of 12, a grandfather of 16 and will be celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary this fall. But before marrying his wife at the end of World War II, Warren was drafted into the Navy and was part of a submarine group in the Pacific Ocean.
“It was one of the most dangerous positions because we were pretty much the first line of offense and defense,” he said. “We lost the most men, percentage- wise. I think something like 50 out of 200 subs went down.”
After his three-year stint in the Navy, Warren returned to San Francisco where he met his young wife in a young Christian leadership group.
“We had a lot in common,” he said. “Our religious background and our family backgrounds were the same.”
In 1948, Ramona’s brother, who lived in Hollister along with the rest of her family, offered Warren an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. The two men went into business together and opened the Shopper’s Supermarket located at San Benito and Fourth streets. A few years later the store was moved to the old Purity Store and Warren said things around town were much different then.
“We used to be closed on Sundays and close every evening at 6 p.m.,” he said. “Back then, it was a much more family-oriented store. We knew everybody by name.”
All 12 of Warren’s kids worked at the store and helped their father until the building burned to the ground in 1968 because a chicken rotisserie was too close to a wall.
“It was devastating,” he said.
After that, Warren didn’t go back to the grocery business. Instead he took seasonal work at the cannery and worked for 20 more years in real estate and tax services. He barely retired his tax license two years ago at the age of 83.
Now retired, Warren said he’s learned a lot in life and that with age comes wisdom and patience.
“When you can drop envy it’s a big thing,” he said. “When you envy the person next door because they have more money or they’re better looking than you, it does nothing for you.”
