Frisco Born and Bred: Bob Warren Celebrates a Milestone

Frisco was a very different place a century ago — to that Robert Mitchell “Bob” Warren can attest. Born February 1, 1921, at his family’s home on Williams Avenue, he grew up playing in the city’s vacant lots and riding his bike along Main Street when he wasn’t earning pennies picking cotton in local fields.

Back then, it likely was difficult for most of Frisco’s several hundred residents to imagine that its plentiful farmland would one day be replaced by the sprawling subdivisions and office parks, bustling thoroughfares and state-of-the-art entertainment complexes that comprise its modern-day landscape.

Thankfully, Mr. Warren — the last surviving member of Frisco High School’s Class of 1938, a proud Texas A&M graduate and an Army Air Corps pilot who bravely defended the nation during World War II — wasn’t one of those folks.

A true visionary and lifelong champion of the city, he has always had the best interests of Frisco and its citizens at heart. During his 13 years on the City Council, including three consecutive terms as mayor, he worked tirelessly to bring premiere development and infrastructure projects to the area — Stonebriar Centre and the Dallas North Tollway extension among them — which secured its responsible and successful transformation from a sleepy Dallas suburb into the nation’s fastest-growing large city of the last decade.

All the while, he has kept Frisco’s history at the forefront. A founding member of the Heritage Association of Frisco, Mr. Warren – namesake of Warren Parkway and the Warren Sports Complex, and to whom the clock on Main Street is dedicated for his decades of service to the community — remains steadfastly determined to keep the city’s storied past from becoming a mere footnote as it continues its march into the future.

For a quarter-century, he has graciously shared his personal recollections, thoughtful musings and a myriad of Frisco facts in our pages via his wildly popular “Now and Then” columns. It was our distinct honor to publish a trio of his expertly penned local-history books, as well as to have named him Frisco STYLE Magazine’s inaugural Person of the Year in 2006.

In celebration of his newly acquired centenarian status, the Frisco STYLE family wishes our beloved columnist Bob Warren a very happy and healthy 100th birthday. On behalf of the entire city, we express our unending gratitude for the efforts and contributions he has made while selflessly serving as Frisco’s greatest advocate and the keeper of its remarkable history.

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