Obit: Gerret Warner (1945-2025)

Subject: Gerret Warner R.I.P.
From: GUEST,Jon Dudley and The Copper Family
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 09:14 AM

Sad to report the passing of a dear friend…this obituary published by his family.

By the way, Gerret would have been proud to have seen the recent re-publication of his parents’ seminal book ‘Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne and Frank Warner Collection’, into which he invested so much time and love.

Gerret’s Obituary submitted 2-6-2025
in Seacoast Online and papers February 9, 2025

Gerret Preston Warner, beloved husband, father, friend, and film documentarian died Sunday, December 8th, 2024 in Chapel Hill, NC surrounded by his family.

Gerret was born in 1945 in New York City to acclaimed folk music collectors, Frank and Anne (Locher) Warner. He attended Friends Academy in Glen Cove, earned an undergraduate degree in English from Duke University and a Master’s degree in film from Boston University. In 1969, he met and fell in love with Mimi Gredy at Pinewoods Folk Music and Dance Camp. They married in 1975. Gerret was a proud father and is remembered by his daughters as a loving, gentle man. A hiker. A musician. A thinker with a deep, artistic soul.

Professionally, Gerret continued his parents’ storytelling legacy. His greatest pleasure was producing documentaries about amazing people and their passions, and he documented those stories alongside Mimi through their award-winnings films including Changes In The Wind, Truth Underground, and Polly Hill and Her Arboretum. Most recently, he oversaw the reprinting of his parents’ book Traditional American Folk Songs and produced a live touring performance of their collecting trips.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mimi Gredy, three daughters, Abby, Jessie, and Anne, three grandchildren, Isabella, Asher and Lorenzo, as well as his brother Jeff and countless good friends.

There will be a celebration of Gerret’s life on July 19th, 2025 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Remembrance contributions can be made in his honor to the North Carolina Arts Foundation, Burnsville, NC Hurricane Relief Fund, P.O. Box 26263, Raleigh, NC 27611.

Subject: RE: Obit: Gerret Warner (1945-2025)
From: Vic Smith
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 11:24 AM

I only met him two of three times - at Rottingdean, Peacehaven and Cecil Sharp but coversations wityh him suggested that he was an intelligent and very likeable person.
I have a lovely picture of him singing at Cecil Sharp House with brother Jeff, amd Jon and John of The Copper Family.

Subject: RE: Obit: Gerret Warner (1945-2025)
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 09:02 PM

sorry to hear this news. Condolences to family, friends and fans.
RIP.

looks like Frank & Anne Warner's book is to be published by
Syracuse University Press (April 2025):
https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/8086/traditional-american-folk-songs-from-the-anne-and-frank-warner-collection/

Thomas.

Subject: RE: Obit: Gerret Warner (1945-2025)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 18 Feb 25 - 12:45 AM

Dear Jeff - We're very sorry to hear this sad news.
Best wishes from Henry and Freda

Jeff & Gerret Warner interviewed at Library of Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgTnjDx_sE

Coming Soon! Reprinting in May 2025 Traditional American Folksongs: From the Anne and Frank Warner Collection; Anne Warner. Syracuse University Press, 1984.
ISBN 10: 0815601859 / ISBN 13: 9780815601852 Two hundred songs with music, as well as stories and photographs of the rural singers from whom the Warners learned.