Emily “Lou” Boyd Warren died peacefully at home on May 12, 2021. She was born on October 30, 1934 in Houston, Texas to Dr. Adam Napoleon and Bertie Simmons Boyd. She graduated from the University of Texas in 1956 where she pledged Pi Beta Phi sorority. There she made lifelong friends--particularly her great friend Dianne James--and remained active with the Alumni organization for many years. After her first marriage to Buster Blumberg ended, she married Bill Penn, who helped her raise her two daughters, Christa and Hilda in Austin. In 1983, she married Robert “Bromo” Warren and lived with him for a number of years in Knoxville, Tennessee. After his death, she returned to Austin, remaining a denizen of her beloved Tarrytown for the rest of her life.
Throughout her life, Lou devoted herself to helping other people sort out their lives and their possessions. Her community service involvement with her Junior League placements continued long after her active membership ended. She worked for three years as the House Director of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, where she helped many wonderful young men amount to something. Her work for a number of interior design firms helped lead to her ultimate calling when she founded an estate sale company with her old Pi Phi friend Carol Long. After Carol’s death, Lou became partners with Barbara Oden. Together they created one of the most highly-regarded estate sale companies in Austin and turned into life-long friends in the process. Warren-Oden Estate Sales helped hundreds of families throughout the city, and as a result, Lou made dear friends of countless clients and customers. She retired at the age of 83. She was an avid reader, cutthroat card player, inveterate advice giver, committed nap taker, and steadfast rescuer of unwanted dogs, and her passing leaves a sizeable hole in many hearts.
Lou was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Bertie Boyd Smith and her stepson Harper Warren. She is survived by daughters, Christa Penn Strauss and husband Hoch, Hilda Dianne Penn, brothers Brooks Boyd, Charles Boyd and wife Sarah, grandsons Gus Strauss, Jack Strauss and step-grandson Philip Strauss, stepson Dan Warren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be on Monday, May 31st at 2:00 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas. Service will be Live Streamed. Live Stream Link: https://www.facebook.com/WCFFunerals.
Memorial contributions may be made to Austin Pets Alive and the Central Texas Food Bank.
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