Hometown Brandon - Summer 2015

The
way
we
were.
Patsy & Philip Warren
Vacation Bible School gets credit for a lot
of positives in young people’s lives. For Patsy
Grantham Warren, it was positive in a unique way.
She met her future husband at VBS. Philip was
from Puckett and attended the Brandon Baptist
VBS that memorable summer. “I thought he
was about the cutest thing I had ever seen,”
Patsy remembers.
Later in their youth, a tent skating rink came
to Brandon. The owner of the rink had operated
it in Puckett before moving it to Brandon, so
Philip was an experienced skater. Every night,
Philip would ride with the owner to Brandon
to “help catch the girls.” Patsy also went every
night, and Philip not only caught her from falling,
but he caught her heart. She soon realized that
it wasn’t her skates that swept her off her feet,
it was his tall, skinny frame and blonde crew cut.
They dated through high school and married
on May 29, 1958 after their freshman year at
Hinds Community College. Philip didn’t want
his friends to decorate his “going away” vehicle,
so he hid it. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll Kennedy
attended the wedding and parked their car in
front of the church. It was identical to Philip’s
car. When the newlyweds got ready to leave,
they drove off in a clean car. The Kennedy’s,
however, left with tin cans dragging and a
“Just Married” sign on the back.
The newlyweds lived in the “barracks”
their sophomore year. Pasty recalled how
college friends, football and basketball players
would come to their apartment on Thursday
nights to watch their small TV. “Huckleberry
Hound” was the “American Idol” in their day.
After Hinds, the Warrens attended
University of Southern Mississippi and earned
their degrees. Patsy was an elementary education
major but taught only one year, giving up a
6 • Summer 2015