Warren Brinson Weeks

Warren Brinson Weeks, Jr. was born June 11, 1937, in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Warren Brinson Weeks and Elizabeth Parker Weeks. He died on November 18, 2020, in Broken Arrow, OK.

Brinson grew up in Bartlesville, OK and then attended college and business school at OU, where he was a proud Kappa Alpha known to his fraternity brothers as “Buddha”, perhaps more for the way he sat while enjoying an adult beverage than for any philosophical leanings. After business school, he worked for IBM for several years, then founded and ran a startup computer services company. There, he was an early innovator in thinking about how computers might be useful, particularly in medicine, where he worked in the 1960s to consider how an electronic medical record might be constructed.

Brinson went on to a very successful career at Computer Sciences Corporation where he was an Executive Vice President who focused on acquisitions, mergers, and integration of newly acquired companies. He also specialized in internal turnarounds where he effectuated alignment with corporate headquarters’ strategy and processes. He traveled all over the world pursuing these business ventures, living in Singapore, London, Hong Kong, and Sydney, Australia, among other places.

Brinson retired in 2002 and moved to Lyme, New Hampshire, to live near his son, Bill, and to be surrounded by his 6 grandchildren. Brinson spent many a retired day toting his grandchildren from one event to another, attending their violin recitals, and joining the family at dinners, church, community events, and holidays. Throughout his retirement, he enjoyed spending time with each of his grandchildren and contributed generously to their educational pursuits.

By 2016, Brinson had developed dementia. After moving to an assisted care facility and then their dementia unit in Lebanon, NH, he moved to Broken Arrow Nursing Home in Broken Arrow, OK, a move precipitated by his son’s move to Washington state to work at Microsoft, where – perhaps following his father’s early footsteps – Bill works to use technology and artificial intelligence to improve health and healthcare, worldwide. Brinson was fortunate that his brother, Tom, could visit him often in Broken Arrow.

Brinson’s daughter, Amy, died in 2014 at age 49, after a long illness.

Brinson is survived by his younger brothers Albert Weeks of Dallas, TX and Tom Weeks of Broken Arrow, OK. He is survived by his son, Bill, of Redmond, WA and Lyme, NH. He is survived by his grandchildren: Tanner, of Lebanon, NH; Atticus, of Lordsburg, NM; Savannah, of Brunswick, MD; Scout, of Galloway, OH; Joplin, of Lyme, NH; and Harper Oklahoma – known as “Hoke” – currently in Paris, France. He is survived by his 15-month-old great granddaughter, Isla Anne.

One of the accompanying pictures shows Brinson at the head of the table at Thanksgiving in 2018, Joplin and Hoke on his right and Tanner (along with his wife, mother to Isla Anne) on his left. Another shows Tanner and Savannah celebrating Brinson’s 80th birthday at his favorite restaurant, Margaritas. And the third shows Brinson celebrating Savannah’s 11th birthday with all of his grandkids and the Bowdens and the Lees, with a couple of Whittingtons, a Turkington, a Luan, and Madison the dog thrown in.

In lieu of flowers or donations, go do something nice for someone: tell them that you love them, forgive them for anything untoward that they’ve done to you, ask their forgiveness for anything untoward you’ve done to them, and tell them, “Thanks,” for being a friend. This strange and frightening time in the world’s history makes one appreciate that time is fleeting, and madness can take its toll. Perhaps more than ever, it’s important to appreciate the transcendent yet ephemeral nature of life and beauty and friends and lovers.