CMS:Herb H. Warrick, Jr.

undated company photo of Herbert H. Warrick Jr.

Herbert H. Warrick Jr. (1923–2012) was a former director of Network Engineering for Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone and one of the founders of what eventually became Connections Museum Seattle.

Herb was born in Seattle and graduated from Roosevelt High School. Shortly thereafter, he began working for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph as a bicycle messenger.  During World War II, Herb was drafted into the US Army and served overseas. When he returned home, he began a long and successful career with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph.

Herb's father (H.H. Warrick Sr.) as well as Herb and his two brothers, Don and Bob, were also employees of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph.

Connections Museum Seattle

During the early 1980s Herb served as Director of Network Engineering and Planning at Pacific Northwest Bell. The company launched two major modernization projects that were designed to replace all electromechanical switching systems with "state-of-the-art" electronic switching equipment. Herb was the mastermind of those projects. Having long dreamt of preserving some of the old vintage equipment in a museum setting, Herb was able to foresee that at the end of the two modernization projects, working examples of electromechanical switching that had served the Pacific Northwest region would all be gone. If a museum of vintage telephone equipment was to be built, this would be the very last opportunity to secure the equipment. To that end, Herb launched a third project to set aside this historic equipment as it was removed from service.

After considerable background work in 1984 and 1985, Herb announced his thoughts and plans for the preservation effort in September 1986. All of the Officers of Pacific Northwest Bell were on board and supportive of this effort. And thus the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum was founded.

The gala brought together interested parties from AT&T, Western Electric and Pacific Northwest Bell under the banner of the Charles B. Hopkins Chapter #30 of the Telephone Pioneers of America. Lunch was served in the space that now houses the Museum of Communications, using rented tables, chairs and temporary lighting in an otherwise empty floor of the Duwamish wire center. It didn't take much convincing those assembled that the time to act was NOW. Approximately one hundred people attended, all willing to volunteer their time and expertise in support of this unique project.

Herb's plan was a joint effort between Pacific Northwest Bell and the Charles B. Hopkins Chapter #30 of the Telephone Pioneers of America. Conversion to electronic switching in the 1980s had made floor space available in many telephone buildings. Accordingly, all 6600 square feet on the third floor in the Duwamish wire center would be made available to the Pioneers to build a museum. As the vintage equipment was removed from service and written off the Company books, the Pioneers would have first choice to select materials for the project. The selected pieces were donated to the Pioneers and delivered to the museum site, saving them from destruction.

The Rainier exchange was a Western Electric Panel Switching System. Panel equipment was employed in very few cities across the country, including Seattle. It was unique compared to other switches, rare, and was sentimental to Herb as he maintained a Panel switch in his early career, so he considered it a must for the museum project. The Rainier Panel Switching System had been retired in place and unusually for retired equipment, had not yet been scrapped.

Unlike newer electromechanical switches (which were factory-assembled into robust frames, to be lifted, tipped, turned, and lowered through doors or windows with chain hoists), Panel Offices were assembled at the telephone office itself.  So moving a Panel Office presented an extreme challenge as, despite its large size, such an office was actually quite fragile given the way it was assembled. Nobody involved could recall a Panel Office having been moved before.

After a thorough examination of the Rainier Panel Switching System, museum volunteers determined that the equipment bays must be removed without disassembly. Attempting to split the bays into smaller parts would not be possible. This presented yet another challenge, as the bays were 11 feet, 6 inches tall (in both ten- and twelve-foot widths) but the equipment exit door was only eight feet tall.

Other options were considered, such as abandoning the Panel Office and letting it be scrapped or disassembling it with the hope that it could one day be reassembled. Alternatively the side of the Rainer Office could be opened up to twelve feet, which would allow removing the equipment vertically, without bending any of its delicate components.

At the time this was the only intact Panel Office left anywhere in the Pacific Northwest (and most likely anywhere in the world). Museum volunteers considered it "a unique, one-of-a-kind treasure" and said that "abandoning it was not an option." Disassembling and reassembling it would be difficult since all the wiring color codes had faded and were unreadable, which would make reconnection nearly impossible. The temporary building modification option was chosen by volunteers to move the switch, and they asked for Herb's help.

Herb asked for a write-up of our situation and that volunteers include a request to remove the masonry over an existing entry door at the Rainier Office to provide the required twelve-foot overhead clearance to remove the Panel Office. In addition, the write-up needed to include a request for a similar modification at the museum site to allow for installation at its new home. With Herb's influence, the project went on.

Retirement from telecommunications

When Herb retired, he started a second career in the alarm business. During that time he made himself available to assist volunteers when roadblocks arose. His involvement always influenced favorable resolution of the issues. This was another example of Herb's dedication and devotion to the preservation of the telecommunications heritage and history.

Upon retirement from his alarm company Herb had more available time. He frequently visited the museum. He would come in, take off his hat and coat, and make the rounds visiting with the volunteers or just touring the museum. On other occasions he would pull up a chair and talk giving volunteers an opportunity to discuss issues and/or the future needs of the museum—and he never left the museum without saying "job well done."

Impact

Herb was well respected and remembered by museum volunteers as well as telecommunications history enthusiasts around the world.

To those of us who knew Herb, he was passionate about the museum but also very approachable and unassuming. And without drawing attention to himself, Herb generously provided funds to establish an endowment fund that secured a positive future for what is now Connections Museum Seattle. We also owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Herb for his ongoing support, his leadership and guidance, his foresight, his dedication and generosity—and above all else—his friendship. Though Herb was always quick to downplay his importance (he always insisted that credit be given to the hard work and dedication of museum volunteers), we could not have done it without Herb.

— Dave Dintenfass