Warren Earl Preston, Jr.

Warren Earl Preston, Jr. of Churchville passed away at his home on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. He was 88.

Born in Havre de Grace, MD, he was the son of the late Warren Earl and Mildred (Johnson) Preston, Sr. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Catherine (Ashby) Preston; children, Dawn Workman and her husband William “Rock” of Aberdeen, MD, Donelie “Shelly” Anderson of Churchville, MD, William “Billy” Preston and his wife Holly of Forest Hill; daughter-in-law, Amy Preston, honorary son and daughter in law, Laymer and Pam Workman of Whiteford, MD and their children, Andrew and Amber and their families, and his brother in law Robert “Sam“ Tusing and his wife Judy of Pennsylvania and their children, Kathy, Samantha and Tammy. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his oldest son, SGM Warren Earl “Bud” Preston, III and two sisters, Norma Kretlow and Wanda Shirley.

Warren was a veteran of the U.S. Army where he served in Korea prior to being honorably discharged as a Specialist 4. He started his firefighting career as a volunteer fire fighter with the Aberdeen Fire Department at the age of 17. He was employed as a professional fire fighter at Aberdeen Proving Ground. After retiring from APGFD in 1985, he worked restoring and refurbishing emergency equipment for area fire departments. Warren loved being outside and being with his family. He enjoyed working on cars, watching all types of car racing especially NASCAR, college baseball and softball, BattleBots, and all things trains and firetrucks. He had his own businesses custom building dune buggies and repairing and selling CB radios. He was a Master welder and built his own 1912 Ford C-Cab.

Warren is also survived by 12 grandchildren: April and husband Jeff, Rocky and wife Katlyn, Ashley and husband Jack, Beth, Connor, Kayla, William, Nathan, Aubrey, Adara and husband Ryan, Emily and Nicholas, 7 great grandchildren: Kendall, Hillary, Fiona, Griffin, Thomas, Jay and Nora, along with several nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, September 20 at the Tarring-Cargo Funeral Home from 2-4pm and 6-9pm. A Celebration of Life will be held from 1pm to 5pm on Saturday, September 23 at Grandview Christian Church, 2202 Fallston Rd, Fallston, MD 21047. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either the American Heart Association, PO Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692 or to the American Lung Association, 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60601.