William Ripley Obituary

William Young Warren Ripley CHARLESTON - William Young Warren Ripley, 92, of Charleston, South Carolina, died Saturday, September 7, 2013. Warren Ripley was born April 13, 1921 in Samarcand, NC to Clements and Katharine Ball Ripley. He moved to Charleston in 1927. Warren attended The Gaud School in Charleston and graduated from The Taft School in Watertown, CT in 1939 and Yale University in 1943. He served in the Italian Campaign in World War II as a 2nd Lieutenant Artillery Forward Observer. Following the war, Warren worked for a year as a reporter on The State Newspaper in Columbia, SC, then moved back to Charleston and was employed by The Charleston Evening Post in various capacities including reporter, State Editor, and Special Sections Editor. In the latter capacity, he wrote, edited, and produced a number of booklets and books for The Post & Courier. He also edited Siege Train (the journal of a Confederate Artilleryman during the Civil War siege of Charleston) and co-edited A Carolinian Goes to War. Warren was the author of Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, an authoritative work on US and Confederate cannons and projectiles; The Battle of Chapman's Fort, several magazine articles on military subjects and a fiction story published by Colliers. He also edited and revised South Carolina Silversmiths, 1690-1860 for the Charleston Museum and published Cities of Fear, short stories of Clements and Katharine Ball Ripley. Warren served as president of The Charleston Library Society from 1975 to 2006. He was a member of St. Michael's Church, The Carolina Yacht Club, The St. Cecilia Society and The Charleston Club, president of The Charleston Ancient Artillery Society and a Fellow of The Company of Military Historians. Warren is survived by his son, Clements Ripley and his wife, Ruth Gray, of Charleston, SC and Sarasota, FL; and a grandson, Christopher Charles Warren Ripley of Los Angeles, CA. He was preceded in death by his wife, Quintillia Shuler Ripley and his son, William Young Warren Ripley, Jr. The relatives and friends of Warren are invited to attend his Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. Monday, September 9, 2013, at the graveside in Old St. Andrews Parish Churchyard, 2604 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC 29401; Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community, 1 Bishop Gadsden Way, Charleston, SC 29412 or St. Michael's Church, 71 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR., INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston