John Warren NT5C became a Silent Key on July 5, 2012 following three years of struggle against prostate and kidney cancer, a cardiac arrest, shingles, and multiple bouts of pneumonia. On the day of his death, he enjoyed dinner with his devoted wife Betty and retired to rest for the evening. He was found deceased at 11:00 PM and died peacefully as well as could be determined. He was 77 years old. Preceded in death by one child, John is survived by his wife, two children, and three grandchildren.

John was born in London, England on December 21, 1934 to Robert and Ada Warren. John graduated at the top of his class from Imperial College London, earning a Master's Degree in Engineering in 1955. He married his true love, Betty, in 1956, and the couple emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1957 to pursue his professional career at Transitron Electronic Corporation. Two years later, John was hired away by Schlumberger in Connecticut, the company he would work for until he retired. John relocated to a house on top of a hill in Round Rock, Texas in 1970 and was among the management team that built the Schlumberger campus on RR620 in northwest Austin (a site that today is the campus of Concordia University). After 35 years in engineering and management, John retired from Schlumberger in 1994. In his retirement, John devoted his time to his favorite hobbies, including amateur radio, stamp collecting, photography, and following English Premier League soccer (as a fan of Arsenal).

John's life-long relationship with radio began with short wave listening. As a young man in England, he joined the International Short Wave League, and among his collections are extensive log books of his SWL activities in England, New England, and Texas. In the early 1970s, John began regularly listening to, and occasionally recording, amateur radio operators on the short wave bands. Over a 40 year period of amateur band SWL activity, John's log books include amateur radio stations from 352 countries heard. John earned his amateur radio license in 1984. Although he would never make a contact with Morse code himself, he taught himself the Morse code using practice tapes and computer programs so that he could earn an Extra class license and the call sign NT5C. Still active in amateur band SWL, John waited until February, 1987 to make his first two-way amateur radio contact. From that point on, he focused entirely on single sideband (SSB) voice communications, with special interests in the 10 meter, 40 meter, and 75 meter bands. An active DXer, John amassed some of the highest country totals on SSB from anywhere in North America on the low bands: 340 countries on 40 meter SSB and 291 countries on 75 meter SBB. His interest on 10 meters was specifically in long-path propagation. John worked 21 CQ zones and 53 countries by contacting stations on propagation paths that went more than half-way around the globe. John achieved Top of the DXCC Honor Roll (349 countries confirmed), Five-Band DXCC Phone-Only, and Five-Band Worked All Zones Phone-Only.

John was a founding member of the Central Texas DX and Contest Club. When the club first began to meet in 1993, there was little structure and the club culture was very "laid back." John became the first "non-leader" leader of the club, encouraging a friendly and open club culture where DXers and contesters could come together and enjoy their common interests. In the beginning, he took the initiative to organize a meeting place once a month and to invite guest speakers to the annual DX Forum at the Austin Summerfest amateur radio convention. John led the club discussions on DXing for many years and helped educate many club members on the phenomenon of long path radio propagation. He was an elmer to many club members, teaching new members about DXing and the fine art of QSLing. In addition to his service to the CTDXCC, John was an active member of the American Radio Relay League, and served for many years on the DX Advisory Committee (DXAC). He was also an active member of the Lone Star DX Association and the Williamson County Amateur Radio Club.

John's many radio friends around the globe will miss hearing his distinctive and polite English voice on the short waves.