Warren Colbert York, Sr. was born March 17, 1948 to Claudie E. York, Sr. and Ida Mae Fulwood in Sumter, South Carolina. He was raised in a loving, Christian family and attended Mt. Sinai AME Church. Warren is the youngest of seven children, affectionately called Colbert by his family. In Sumter, he attended Johnson High School, a K-12 school. When he was about 12 years old, the family moved to Washington, D.C. where he attended Frederick Douglass Jr. High School and Ballou Senior High School. Warren completed his studies through the Job Corps program, which is how he made his way to Rockford, IL.

He met his wife, Delgracia, at a championship basketball game at West High School in 1968. It was love at first sight. They married August 10, 1968. He worked at the Chrysler Plant in Belvidere, IL, for 40 years, leaving the job as a paint sprayer in the repair department. Warren was a very talented man and what you might call a man's man. He was skilled in martial arts, could fix a car, build a shed, grow his food, play softball with the best of them, and blow you out in bid whist. He was a dad to everyone; showing compassion and giving advice to all the children in the neighborhood. Warren loved his family, heading back home for all graduations, funerals, marriages, reunions, and just to say hello.

Warren leaves to cherish in his memory his beautiful and dutiful wife Delgracia Mae York (Vawters), son, Everick Dwayne York, daughters Milana L. Herman (TJ) and Tinaya S. York (Lutalo), sisters Mary Orell Walker (Robert) and Beverly Gail Laws (Joseph) and brother Joseph D. York, fourteen grandchildren- Tredarin Crumbley, Rey York, Teresa Tibble (Matthew), Khayla Caruthers, Khaley Caruthers,  Ellington Webb (Adrienne), Jelani McGee, Kianna Galvin, Tyjah York, Jahari Webb, Skylin York, Gianni York, Alexander Green, Harmony York, nine great-grand children, a very special cousin Brett Ward who cared for him daily, and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, and other relatives and friends.

Warren is preceded in death by his first born son Warren Colbert "Peanut" York, Jr., his mother Ida Mae York, father Claudie E. York, Sr., his sisters Evelyn Leevy and Sarah Witherspoon (Alexander), and his brother Claudie E. York, Jr.

Graveside service will be held 11:30 a.m. Monday, March 10, 2025 at Cedar Bluff Cemetery. Visitation will be held at Carl E. Ponds Funeral Home Inc. 200 N. Johnston Ave. 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.