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Warren Nilchee, Sr. born April 10, 1910, passed away peacefully at the age of 95 at home with some of his children at his bedside. Mr. Nilchee was under Hospice Care. Mr. Nilchee was born and raised on a farm south of Shiprock, NM on the Navajo Reservation. Warren was the son of Nil-chi-gih-hah-tahly-bega who was a well known medicineman and his mother was Barber Bitsie. He graduated from Albuquerque Indian School, returned to the Reservation and took a job as a boilerman in the steam plant with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Shiprock. He married Amelia Etcitty from the Naschitti area who preceded him on December 11, 2000. Then came WWII. Though married and the father of three and one on the way, Warren was drafted, trained by the Army, and shipped to France just after Normandy. Then came the Battle of the Bulge, V-E Day, service in occupied Austria and return home. He was presented the Bronze Star for Meritorious Achievement in Ground Operations against the Enemy when he and three other foot soldiers were surrounded by German enemies and managed to knock out two enemy tanks, permitting the group to rejoin the 319th Infantry. His second and third decorations came shortly thereafter. Several platoons trying to cross the Mozella River were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire out of pillboxes high on the opposite bank. Many of his buddies died that day, and Warren took a shrapnel wound that day, but kept fighting. He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart by Gen. Bradley of the 80th Infantry Division for his Gallantry in Action. By serving in WWII he viewed the Reservation life may not provide the educational opportunities for his children. Mr. Nilchee settled his family in Albuquerque in 1946. Warren took advantage of the GI Bill to train in painting, cement finishing and carpentry. He joined the Sandia Laboratory in 1956, and continued learning and finished a Maintenance Technician Apprenticeship course and worked as a Plant Maintenance in the steam plant on Sandia Base. He retired in 1975 after 18 years and 10 months of service. Warren was a gentle man with great faith in God, a great sense of providing and caring for his family, and approached life's challenges with determination, perseverance, integrity, and left his children the philosophy and teachings of the Navajo Way. Warren's father taught him the medicine of the Wind Way, and the Navajo people in the Urban setting of Albuquerque sought the Wind Way Medicine from Warren to meet life's challenges and to keep balance. He served as President and Board Member of the Navajo Club of Albuquerque in the 1960's, and was a very active member of the New Mexico Council of American Indians, Inc. and contributed to the establishment and growth of the New Mexico State Fair Indian Village. Survivors include six daughters and two sons, Erma Marbut, Mary Nilchee, Thelma Nilchee, Melissa Woodcock and Robert Nilchee all of Albuquerque; Betty Dubois of Elmer, NJ; Ruth Spencer of Pendleton, OR and Warren Nilchee, Jr. of Seattle, WA. He had six grandsons and 10 great-grandchildren. We release you our Beloved Father into the Arms of the Great Spirit and the Beauty Way. As you have spoken to us You and our Beloved Mother will be watching over us, and we as the children will take care of each other as you wished us to do. Visitation will be Monday, August 15, 2005 at French Mortuary, 10500 Lomas Blvd., NE, 2:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Funeral service will be Tuesday, August 16, 2005, 10:00 a.m. at Chelwood Christian Reformed Church, 2200 Chelwood Park Blvd., NE. with Pastor Gordon Stout officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association of NM, 2625 Pennsylvania, NE, Suite 225, Albuquerque 87110. French Mortuary 10500 Lomas Blvd., NE 275-3500
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