by Staff Writer Trevon Tucker
Dr. Nancy Nairn Warr, a former teacher at Eastern New Mexico University’s Portales Campus, passed away on Friday, September 2, 2022 at the age of 88.
Warr was born in 1933. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Rutger’s University, her master’s degree from New York University, and her doctorate from the University of New Mexico. Warr arrived at ENMU in 1969. She went on to teach American and English literature classes for 25 years before retiring in 1994 and receiving the title of Emeritus.
Warr was well-known for her uniquely intelligent, challenging and engaging teaching style which inspired her students and, in 1988, earned her the ENMU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Those who studied under Warr often referred to themselves as “Warr-heads”.
Among the classes taught by Dr. Warr were a developmental writing course created by Warr herself, and English methods course for teachers, and a particularly beloved English honors course taught in cooperation with Dr. Robert Matheny’s history honors class.
“I remember her reading aloud from Paradise Lost (taking the role of Satan) and holding and exaggerating the ‘s’s’ in each syllable until she seemed to be hissing the words,” said ENMU Chancellor Dr. Patrice Caldwell, Warr’s longtime friend and colleague. “It was a magnificent teaching moment.”
Following her retirement, Warr remained in Portales. She continued to enjoy literature in her free time. She also took up many hobbies, including cooking, woodworking and raising cats. She maintained contact with her friends and colleagues. She shared many stories and always encouraged her peers to pursue their interests.
“She could make fantastic green chile chicken enchiladas that I can still taste,” said Caldwell. “She was a good listener. And she was not with us long enough.”
Warr was known by her friends, family, and colleagues as someone with a practical mindset and a great degree of honesty when giving her opinion. “Nancy was one of those people who would tell you what she thought, whether you were likely to agree with it or not,” said Dr. Antony Oldknow, Dr. Warr’s close friend and former colleague. “She just thought what she thought and she said it.”
Dr. Warr is survived by her siblings Richard Bruce Warr and Judith Warr Welker, three nephews, two great-nieces, and remembered by a great number of friends and colleagues including Chancellor Dr. Patrice Caldwell, Dr. Antony Oldknow, Linda Shoemaker, Dr. Mercedes Agogino, and Scott Hendershot among others. While only a few people presently at ENMU have had the pleasure of knowing Warr personally, her contributions to the university and positive impact she left on many lives will not soon be forgotten.