Coast loses community leader who owned men’s clothing stores in Biloxi, Gulfport
For decades, Gene Warr devoted himself to his family, his church, entrepreneurship and making the Mississippi Gulf Coast a better place to live.
The longtime Coast resident, who died Saturday, will perhaps be best remembered as owner of popular Warr’s men’s clothing stores, first at Edgewater Mall and then in a shopping center on U.S. 90 that Hurricane Katrina destroyed in 2005.
Warr, a native of Center, Texas, grew up on a farm, his obituary says. He loved to sing gospel music, first in churches around East Texas and then as a tenor with the Stamps Baxter Quartet. He also toured with the Rushing family and later started a pop group, the Four Mints, that included his brother, Al Warr.
“The quartet performed to great acclaim at the finest venues across the nation, including the famed Palace Theater and Copacabana in New York, the Sands in Las Vegas and the major supper clubs of the era,” his obituary says. The quartet also performed at Gus Stevens supper club in Biloxi.
He learned the clothing business as a youngster while working at men’s clothing store Dad and Lad’s for the Rev. Jimmy Jones in Texas. Warr came to appreciate fine clothes while working at the store during high school and college.
He opened his first clothing store, Gene Warr’s Men’s Shop, in 1964 in Edgewater Mall.
“For over 35 years, the store served as his base of operations for many endeavors, as well as a launch for the The Village Drummer (in) 1969 and Warr’s Men’s Clothing in 1986,” his obituary says. The Village Drummer was a women’s clothing store owned by his wife, Kay Warr.
Warr and his son, Brent Warr, also founded real estate investment firm Warr Properties. Brent Warr served as Gulfport’s mayor during Hurricane Katrina.
Gene and Kay Warr were married for 63 years and also had a daughter, Gena Cook, and four grandchildren.
He was involved in many civic activities, serving 21 years on the Biloxi Planning Commission, 19 of them as chairman. He also served for many years with the Biloxi and Gulfport chambers of commerce, including as director of both. He was at one time chairman of the Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and was a founder of Coast 21, later known as the Gulf Coast Business Council.
The Warrs first settled in Biloxi but later moved to Gulfport.
As a successful businessman, he also was tapped to serve on the boards of numerous companies, including Mississippi Power, Gulf Regional Planning Commission, the Mississippi Economic Council and the state Ethics Commission. He was a founding director of Jefferson Bank and Gulf Coast Community Bank.
His family said in his obituary that he was proud to receive The Spirit of the Coast Award in 1999.
One of his most cherished affiliations was with First Baptist Church of Gulfport, where he was a member for more than 60 years.
“As an usher, his was the first smiling face visitors and members encountered as he welcomed them,” his obituary says. “He led the music for his beloved ‘Scrap Iron’ Sunday School class for over 50 years.”
Brent Warr said his father shared many life lessons with him and his sister.
“What he would say to me and my sister is, “In anything that you do with another person, don’t worry about yourself because you will be fine. Any transaction that you do with someone, always make sure they will do a little bit better than you do. It won’t matter. You will be happier.”
Brent Warr concluded, “If everybody would follow that principle these days, we would be a lot better off in this country.”
