NYACS Co-Founder Dick Warrender Passes Away

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York convenience store industry lost an early advocate when NYACS President Emeritus Dick Warrender passed away on Feb. 5.

Warrender, 84, co-founded the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) with John MacDougall, Bob Seng, Kevin Noon and others in 1986. Warrender, who was working for Dewitt Wholesale at the time of NYACS' inception, was the association's first staff executive "pouring his heart and soul into the job -- recruiting members, organizing meetings and shows, lobbying legislative issues -- and establishing NYACS as a respected organization," the association stated in a tribute on its website.

The family plans to schedule a springtime memorial service in Marcellus, N.Y., where Warrender grew up.

According to his obituary in the Rutland Herald, Warrender was born in Syracuse and graduated from Solvay High School in Solvay, N.Y. He also attended Muskingum University in Ohio.

In addition to his work in the convenience industry, Warrender served as a village trustee for Marcellus. After leaving NYACS in the early 1990s, he served for 10 years as the New York State Advocate for Persons With Disabilities under Gov. George Pataki before retiring.

He is survived by his four children, Kevin, Scott, Edith and Tracy Marlatt; four grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Joan Warrender; and a sister, Margaret Warrender Stilwell.