Warren B. French

French was born on April 14, 1923, in Woodstock, Virginia, the first of ten children of Warren French Sr. and Lena Belle Sheetz.[1] He attended Woodstock High School, Massanutten Military Academy, and the University of Virginia. In September 1941, he entered the V-12 Navy College Training Program, and later served in the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater.[1] He was discharged from service in 1946, and returned to the University of Virginia where he received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1947.[1] In 1954, he started working for the Farmers Mutual Telephone System in Shenandoah County.[2]

French served as the Seventh District Republican Party Chairman, delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1970 to 1972.[1] He was elected chair on January 16, 1970, replacing Samuel E. Carpenter, who resigned.[3] In 1972, he received the endorsement of Governor Linwood Holton for reelection as chair, but lost to the more conservative challenger, Richard D. Obenshain.[4]

He married his wife Patricia Hamill Teale, in Silver Spring, Maryland, on September 17, 1949.[1] They had four children.[1] He died on November 4, 2021, aged 98 of natural causes.[2]