Warren Kea Wells, aged 80, passed away January 7, 2016 at his home in Amelia Island, Florida.  After battling Parkinson’s Disease for nearly 30 years, Mr. Wells died of complications related to his illness.  

Warren Kea Wells was born December 12, 1935, the son of Evia Dell Kea (Modoc, Ga.) and Julian Lamar Wells (Long Pond, Ga.) His only sister, and neighbor of 40 years, Annella Wells Duffes, continues to live in Griffin, Ga. He survived his siblings, the late Julian Lamar (Bud) Wells, junior and Jere Howard Wells.  Mr. Wells, born and raised on the Wells family farm in Mt. Vernon, was baptized in the Long Pond Baptist Church. He played high school basketball and graduated from Montgomery County High School in 1953, then earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1958.  At Georgia Tech, he was a member and president of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity.  In 1958, Mr. Wells attended the United States Marine Corps Officers School in Quantico, Virginia, and served as an officer and fighter pilot in the USMC. In 1965 he began his career with Eastern Airlines and continued on as a USMC Reserve pilot for many years. He married Joyce M. McCubbin in July 1966 in Campbellsville, Kentucky. They lived first in Atlanta and then Griffin.  

Despite his Parkinson’s diagnosis, ending a long and happy career in aviation, he became the cofounder of a communications business, Page One, which he then sold in 1995. Shortly after, he and his wife built their home on Amelia Island; he had loved the marshlands since he was a young boy. Mr. Wells was a member of the Everett Pope Marine League of Fernandina Beach, Fl. as well as a member of the Amelia Plantation Chapel. Until his death, Mr. Wells continued to own and operate pecan and timber farms in Montgomery County, Ga.  
Mr. Wells leaves behind two daughters, Marian Kea Wells Hemmer, who married Eric Hemmer (St. Louis) in 1998, now living in Fairfax, VA, and Anna McCubbin Wells Gjerlow, who married Robert Gjerlow (New York City) in 2005, now living in Chicago, Il. He also leaves behind three grandchildren—Anna Vorst Karl Hemmer, Wells Ragnar Gjerlow, and Sebastian Smith Faulkner Gjerlow.

Mr. Wells was a true outdoorsman with a passion for farming, quail hunting, flying, and crabbing in the Amelia Island marsh.  An avid Georgia Tech fan, he enjoyed travel, trying new foods (especially if spicy) and conversation with friends. He was at heart an entrepreneur,  and was always willing to engage in any adventure that friends and family might suggest. He enjoyed time spent in his childhood home as well as with the many lifelong friends that he made at Georgia Tech, in the Marines, and in Griffin, Georgia.  

Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 16, 2016, 2 p.m. at Stewart-Rosier Funeral Service Vidalia Chapel, Vidalia, GA. Interment will follow at the Long Pond
Cemetery, with the family receiving visitors afterward at the Wells family home, Mt. Vernon, Ga.  

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Warren K. Wells Endowment in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology or the Joyce M. and Warren K. Wells Endowment for the Laboratory for Neuroengineering in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering also at Georgia Tech:  Georgia Tech Foundation Inc., 760 Spring St. NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308.

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