BY : Melanie Crownover For cdispatch



If asked what he did, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Henry Edward “Pete” Warden would always call himself a farmer.

That was his chosen trade after he retired from a military career that included 25 combat missions in the Southwest Pacific in WWII.

In fact, it years into adulthood before his daughter realized her dad was also called the “father of the B-52.”

“He was so humble about the whole thing that I didn't even know he'd done something so big until I was grown and my mom told me,” said Warden's daughter, Joanna “Cissie” Posey.

Warden was the force behind the creation of the B-52 bomber, a plane that broke all conventions by replacing straight wings and a propeller with swept-back wings and eight jet-propelled engines.He drew inspiration to become an aeronautical engineer from visiting the neighborhoods in New York with his brother at age 11, when Charles Lindbergh made his famous flight and folks still made airplanes in their back yards.

Warden, 91, died Thursday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle of cancer, but his military legacy lives on.

“No other plane has had as long an active service and played part in as many wars,” said Warden's nephew, Col. John Warden III, a retired 30-year Air Force veteran.

“It was our primary deterrent with the Soviet Union, drove North Vietnam to agree to return our prisoners in 1972, flew the longest manned flight on record during the first Gulf War and continues to serve in the current one.

“My son flew one as his first operational plane after becoming an Air Force pilot and was proud to say his great uncle was responsible for bringing it into the world.”

Warden flew more than 47 different types of planes in his career but never his creation.

Those who knew him say it was Warden's family that was his true passion.

His immediate family claims that as his true legacy.

Warden moved to Columbus in 1970, along with his wife, Joanna, and three children. Joanna Warden had grown up on a farm in the area. And that was where Pete Warden claimed his farming career. The couple founded the Warden Carden Elementary School, which they ran together for 25 years.

After his wife passed away Jan. 2007 of breast cancer, Pete Warden continued life on the farm alone.

Spending time with his dog and taking his grandchildren fishing became his favorite pastimes, besides talking politics over coffee at the Huddle House.

“My dad was so important and busy, but his priority was always his family,” said Posey. “He's the reason it's so easy for me to understand that our heavenly father wants that same kind of personal relationship with his children. He is going to be so missed.”

Services for Warden will be held at Main Street Presbyterian Church, where he was a member, on Monday at 11 a.m.