A former Barrie resident and retired Simcoe County District School Board teacher is being remembered as a well-respected educator and devoted family man following a fatal crash between a motorcycle and a car earlier this month in Midland.
Warren Totten, 60, of Midland, was known and loved by family, friends and colleagues alike for being the kind of person you could always count on to lend a helping hand and make you smile.
Bonnie Fallon had been friends with Totten — a father and grandfather who relocated to Midland in 2021 — since she was a teenager. They met in high school in Toronto.
Fallon says her longtime friend, who lived in Barrie for many years, would do anything for anybody.
“A lot of people say that about people, but he could have his own thing going on, the world would come to an end and you wouldn't know it because if you needed him he would just drop (everything) and come," she told BarrieToday. "That’s just who he was. He lived his whole life to give.”
Totten was also the type of person who made everyone he encountered feel like the most important person, Fallon added.
“Warren had this energy about him that everyone just wanted to be around him. He could have 500 friends and every one of them would think they were his best friend because that’s how he made you feel," she said. "Even in high school, he would walk down the hall with his little swagger and his disco pants and people just wanted to be near him.
"He never, ever made anybody feel like they were beneath him. He picked everybody up to his level and above.”
Totten, who spent the last several years of his career teaching at Hillcrest Public School near downtown Barrie, retired from teaching a year ago, a profession which Fallon said was in his blood.
“He wasn’t just a teacher, it was in his DNA. From coaching, working with kids, volunteering he really believed from a young age that everybody doing a little bit could actually change the world. He certainly put in his share,” she said.
Totten was respected by his colleagues and students, often being able to get through to even the most challenging of students, Fallon added.
“I can tell you, I am a challenge and he got through to me. You knew when he spoke that he meant business, but you could also see that it was all done out of love. He wasn’t like a drill sergeant, but you certainly knew he meant business (and) you knew it was coming from a place of love. He had patience on top of patience,” she said.
Regan Frankcom met Totten 22 years ago, when they worked together at Forest Hill Public School in Midhurst, and they’d remained close friends ever since.
“He was a fantastic individual. He helped anyone and everyone and was an eternal optimist. He loved family and friends and the glass was always half full,” he said.
The two had been playing hockey together for many years, Frankcom said, adding every time his friend would walk into the changeroom before a game he would simply fill the room with happiness.
“You couldn’t be upset around Warren,” he added.
The two longtime friends were in the midst of planning an annual road trip together. This year, they had been planning to head to Pittsburgh, Pa.
“Every year we would do a trip together. One year it was Miami. He loved the Miami Dolphins. Another year it was Detroit and we’d play hockey, we’d catch a hockey game and then we’d catch a football game,” Frankcom said.
Fallon, meanwhile, said she’s still having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that her friend — and a man she considered to be family — is gone.
“He just had a lot of unfinished business. Honest to God, I can’t even imagine tomorrow without him. I am not grasping it at all,” she said.
The tragic way in which he died has made it all that more difficult to accept for everybody who knew him, acknowledged Fallon, who said her friend was the “epitome of health,” going to the gym daily as well as being active in hockey and baseball.
“We just thought he would outlive everybody so the way it happened, (his family) is a mess. People had things to say. It’s certainly brought to the forefront of my mind that tomorrow isn’t promised. If you’ve got something to say, you’ve got to reach out and tell them," she added.
Lori Jankowski knew Totten from when she first joined the staff at Forest Hill Public School in Midhurst in 2005 where he was teaching at the time. The two were colleagues and friends, who would often talk about their shared love of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Despite retiring about a year ago, Totten decided he'd like to continue being an educator as a supply teacher, and would ask her to reach out if an opportunity came up to fill in.
“The students, themselves, respected Warren very much. He commanded respect from the students and also showed them respect in return. He was kind, both with his words and his actions and he was funny ... you just never knew what might come out of his mouth," Jankowski said.
Totten will leave behind a lasting impression on everybody he knew, Frankcom said.
“Unfortunately, a wonderful person has left this planet. He will always be remembered,” he said.
“Not that it should happen to anybody, but this man gave so much to other people his whole life,” added Fallon. “Just knowing him, he’d be saying that everything happens for a reason … I can just picture it. I am sure he’s up there playing baseball. This is a big loss to humanity.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the cost of funeral arrangements, as well as care of the family, "particularly Warren’s two cherished grandsons."
A visitation will be held at Adams Funeral Home, located in Barrie at 445 St Vincent St., from 4-8 p.m, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, as well as from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, with a funeral service to follow at 1 p.m. A celebration of life is scheduled at Donaleigh’s Irish Public House in downtown Barrie immediately after the service.
