Jacquelin Warner Warren, 91, pioneer psychotherapist, and one of Virginia's very first Licensed Clinical Social Workers, died of cancer on August 23rd, 2007, in Capital Hospice, Arlington, Virginia.

She had resided in Lexington with her son and daughter-in-law for much of the past two years.

A service of remembrance will be conducted this fall at historic Eastern Shore Chapel, an Episcopal parish in Virginia Beach since 1689.

She was born in Norfolk on December 17th, 1915, and grew up in Richmond, where she was graduated in 1936 from Westhampton College of the University of Richmond.

Ms Warren earned her Master of Science Degree in Social Work from the College of William & Mary in 1938 (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work).

Immediately thereafter, she embarked on her first professional job, supervising adoption placements in 20 Western Virginia counties, including Rockbridge, Craig, Allegany, Bath, and Highland - areas not entirely recovered from the Great Depression, and, in some instances, little changed since the Civil War. She once recounted driving the agency's Model B Ford coupe onto mountaintops and into hollows so constricted she had to back the car a mile or more in order to turn around. She carried a pistol in the glove compartment, and said she promptly learned to change a tire.

Following World War II, Ms. Warren counseled veterans and military families with the Red Cross; served as executive director of Newport News Family Counseling Services; spent a clinical year at Yale Medical Center; and was Chief of Clinical Social Work Services in the children's unit at Eastern State Mental Hospital. Later, she taught the theory and practice of group therapy, and conducted a private practice in individual, couples, and group psychotherapy in Virginia Beach until she was nearly ninety. She developed a nationally-recognized expertise in the treatment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Ms. Warren was instrumental in the passage of legislation to license clinical social work, was a mental health law activist, and championed family planning and social justice. She was also a lifelong "Yellow Dog" Democrat, an avid Redskins fan, designed and sewed theatre costumes, and sailed her own 14-foot boat into her late 80s. Her marriage to George William Warren, III ended in divorce.

She is survived by her son, George William Warren, IV; her daughter-in-law, Paula Warren; a daughter, Ellen R. Warren; two granddaughters, Elizabeth M. R. W. Forsythe and Ashley Warren Coleman; a great-grandson, McCoy Liam Alden Forsythe; and a niece, Jacquelin Wilson.

(Editor's note: Ms. Warren is shown above with her great-grandson, McCoy Forsythe.)