Warren F. Housley

Warren Frank Housley, 84, passed away at home on Dec. 25, 2021, in Starkville, Miss.

Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 607 Hospital Road in Starkville. Services will be held immediately following at Trinity at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Daniel Waterman officiating. Face masks are requested at both the visitation and memorial service. The service will be live-streamed for those unable to attend, and may be accessed at the following location: https://www.facebook.com/ Trinitypresbyterianstarkville.

Warren was born in Hot Springs, Ark., to Martha Elizabeth and Herbert Frank Housley on March 13, 1937. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1955 and moved to Fayetteville that fall to attend the University of Arkansas. As a 17-year-old freshman, Warren pledged Sigma Nu fraternity which, as an only child, became the family of brothers he always wanted. He matriculated in 1959 with a degree in history and moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he was first a history teacher and later a junior high school guidance counselor.

Warren soon married Judith Ann Givens of St. Louis on June 8, 1962, in Mount Vernon, Ind., and by 1967, the couple had two daughters.

After several years as a school counselor, and later as a rehabilitation counselor, Warren completed a Doctor of Education at the University of Arkansas and accepted a position at Mississippi State University. He and Judi moved the family to Starkville in 1971 thinking it would be a good first job. As it turned out, it was a great place to raise a family and they never left. Warren advanced in his career, eventually serving as the chair of the Department of Counselor Education and Educational Psychology.

He retired from professional life at Mississippi State in 2000 as a Professor Emeritus. Along the way, he picked up numerous local, state and national teaching and professional awards, as well as serving as faculty fellow at the Leonard Davis School of the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of California. He served as the president of the Mississippi Counseling Association, the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling, as well as mentoring many, many young faculty members and students in his field. As emeritus head of Mississippi State University’s Counselor Education department, Warren served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.

But as successful as Warren was at his job, that does not begin to tell who he truly was. A longtime member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Warren served as an elder many times and was on too many committees and commissions to count. Also, he was a Rotarian, volunteering in leadership positions in that organization.

But most of all, Warren Housley was a great lover of life and of other people. He truly believed that life was a tremendous gift given by God for him to enjoy and to share with others. They opened their home to traveling orchestra members and served on arts councils.

Warren loved to travel to places all over, from the Holy Land to Norwegian fjords to a rustic cabin in Murrells Inlet, S.C., sometimes with the whole family or groups, but always with Judi, truly the love of his life. And in between trips, you could find Warren and Judi on the sofa each Friday night, enjoying a glass of chardonnay and some “nibbles” while they reminisced about the wonderful life they shared.

A longtime member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Warren served as an elder and on many committees and in several teaching roles, including occasional pulpit duty. He was also a Rotarian in good standing, serving for many years on the Chaplain’s Committee. Warren served on the boards of the Starkville Area Arts Council (SAAC), the Oktibbeha County Humane Society and volunteered with The Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum, along with many other civic organizations. He and Judi set up scholarships for students in need at three different universities. They opened their home to traveling orchestra members, supported deserving youth for Summer Scholars, and served with Living Waters to the World and on relief teams for natural disasters.

And Warren always had an “old person” or two whom he supported (long after he might have qualified as an “old person” himself) by driving them to appointments, picking up the paper or just ministry of presence.

Warren was preceded in death by his father (Herbert Frank Housley) and his mother (Martha Housley Townsend).

Warren is survived by his wife of 59 years, Judith Givens Housley; daughters, Stacey Simpson (Scott) of Helena, Ala., Julia Waterman (Daniel) of Burke, Va.; grandchildren, Jennifer Simpson of Boston, Mass., Mary Lachney (Carter) of Northport, Ala., Jack Waterman of Burke, Va., Lydia Waterman of Rochester, Minn., Clara Desmarais (Sam) of Alexandria, Va., and Mary Grace Waterman of Williamsburg, Va.; and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Starkville Area Arts Council (SAAC), the Oktibbeha County Humane Society or Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Warren’s family wishes to extend sincere thanks to the members of Trinity Presbyterian Church and very special caregiver, Natunya Taylor, who have supported Warren and family through the last year of his life.

You can leave the family a condolence at: https://www. welchfuneralhomes.com.