Dr. Timothy Warner

Timothy Marcus Warner was born in Davenport, IA on Christmas Eve of 1924. As a boy he dreamed of being on the radio as the play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Cubs teams of the 1930s. God had other plans. After graduating from Davenport High School, my dad liked to say, “Uncle Sam sent me an invitation to camp.” That was his way of saying he got drafted. After bootcamp, he was shipped overseas to serve in Patton’s Third Army where he was deployed in Africa, Italy, and Europe. He remembered driving a jeep all night long in frigid temperatures to get to the Battle of the Bulge with no headlights and only the red dots on the back of the prior jeep to know where the road was. After the war, he attended Taylor University in Indiana and graduated at the top of his class in 1950. That summer, he married his college sweetheart, Evangeline Witmer. She was the daughter of the president of Fort Wayne Bible College, Dr. S.A. Witmer. Sadly, Evangeline got sick that year and never recovered. They were married for only one year. While still grieving, my dad left to attend seminary in New York City not far from Times Square. Upon graduation, he took a position at Fort Wayne Bible College. He wasn’t there long before one of his colleagues was tragically killed by a lightning strike while on the golf course. The man’s name was Elmer Neuenschwander, and he left behind his wife, Eleanor, and two children, Cheryl (age 4) and Tim (just 2 months old). About one year later, Timothy and Eleanor got married and soon moved to Sierra Leone, West Africa with their two young kids. Two years later a daughter, Gwen, was born. She had blond hair and blue eyes and was quite the attraction in the rural jungle village where they lived.

After serving one term in Africa, my dad agreed to join the faculty of Fort Wayne Bible College, teaching missions, Greek, and Bible. In 1960 I (Marcus) was born and grew up as the youngest of the four Warner kids. My father earned his Ed. D. from Indiana University and became the dean of the college, then in 1970 he was named president. He served in that capacity for ten years before accepting a position at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as the Director of the School of World Missions and Evangelism and later as the Director of the Professional Doctoral Programs for the seminary.

Beginning in the late 1960s, my parents became involved in spiritual warfare ministry. My father soon became a popular speaker on the topic and taught a class on power encounters in the mission field that led to his first book, Spiritual Warfare (published by Crossway Books – it sold well but is currently out of print). After ten years at Trinity, my dad joined forces with Dr. Neil T. Anderson who had just formed Freedom in Christ Ministries. My dad served as the international director of that organization for over twenty years. He and Dr. Anderson co-authored the book The Essential Guide to Spiritual Warfare that was recently republished by Baker.

After 55 years of marriage, my mother Eleanor passed away. She was a wonderful mother and devoted her life to God and ministry. She personally discipled over 400 women in the latter years of her life. Despite losing his second wife, God had one more major surprise in store for my dad. An old friend from college who had served as a single missionary in Nigeria and then worked for the Missionary Church for several decades wrote him a letter of condolence. He responded. They wrote more letters, and the following year, they were planning a wedding. Her name was Eileen Lageer who was herself a widely read author. 63 years after meeting in college they got married. At age 87 it was Eileen’s first marriage. They spent six happy years together before Eileen lost a battle with cancer, and my father had to say good-bye to a wife for the third time.

My father served on the board of Deeper Walk International for many years and was a ministry colleague of Dr. Mark Bubeck, Dr. Jim Logan, Dr. C. Fred Dickason, Dr. Daniel Rumberger, and many others who served in spiritual warfare ministry. In the last few years of his life, my father needed the help of a memory care unit and was faithfully cared for by my sister Gwen and regularly visited by all of his kids (who are now in their 60s and 70s!). My father passed away on Valentine’s Day, which we all agreed was appropriate for a man who had married and lost three wives. God took him home at age 97. He leaves behind a wonderful legacy of courage, wisdom, and devotion. He was one of those elder level leaders who brought a sense of gravitas to everything he did. I remember feeling things were going to be okay as long as he was involved. I will miss my father in so many ways. He was my mentor, my sounding board, and my friend. Life will not be the same without him.