Julius Warren Jr. picked up his first pair of clippers when he was just 13. He went on to cut hair at his family’s barbershop for more than six decades.

Affectionately known as “Mr. Julius,” Warren became an institution in Howard County, both as the owner of what is believed to be the county’s oldest Black-owned barbershop but also as a mentor, particularly to young Black men. Although he retired from cutting hair a decade ago, his devotion to Warren’s Barbershop in Columbia, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, never wavered.

Warren died Aug. 19 from complications of congestive heart failure at Heartland ManorCare in Silver Spring. He was 87.

“I love that he was a pillar in the community,” said his daughter, Brittany Warren. “Coming to the shop wasn’t only about getting your hair cut — it was about [my dad] learning and asking about what you want to do with your life.”

Aside from barbering, Warren was also an avid golf player and a lover of Italian food, and he knew how to throw a killer party. He loved his Amstel Lite, Brittany Warren said, so much so that when he took her and her brother to Red Lobster as kids, he didn’t like the place because it didn’t serve his brew of choice.

The family is inviting the community to honor Warren on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Celebration Church in Columbia. The celebration of life service begins at 11 a.m.

Warren was born on March 3, 1938, in Baltimore, to Julius Warren Sr. and Sabetta Warren. He grew up with three sisters — Adele, Loretta and Eva — and was the youngest child.

A 1955 graduate of Harriett Tubman School, Howard County’s only Black high school, Warren joined the U.S. Air Force. After completing his service, he returned to the family barbershop opened by his father in 1924.

Warren’s Barbershop has been a longtime fixture in the Black community, first in Baltimore and then in Howard County after a shooting in front of the city location.

“For years, this business has been a community staple, helping to make our residents not only look good, but feel good,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, a longtime supporter of the shop, said in an interview last year.

The family-owned business moved to Howard County in the 1940s, making several moves before settling in the Owen Brown Village Center in the early 2000s.

“Being a barber was one of the best businesses to have back then,” Warren told The Baltimore Banner for a story on the shop’s milestone anniversary last fall. He took over the shop from his father in 1981.

Over the years, Warren took many young people under his wing and gave back to the community. He would try to point young men in the right direction or pass along a few encouraging words to help them see their futures.

David Clark was one of them.

Years ago, Clark walked into the barbershop. New to the area, he was working as a door-to-door salesman. Warren inquired about Clark’s knowledge of hair-cutting. Clark had dabbled in it but nothing extensive.

Clark ended up cutting hair full-time at Warren’s Barbershop for about eight years before branching off into real estate and local businesses.

“Mr. Julius gave me my first start,” Clark said in an interview last year.

A few days after Mr. Warren died, the barbershop held its annual back-to- school festival, complete with free haircuts and a live band.

When Clark spoke about Warren at the community day last month, he looked out to the crowd and was filled with joy.

“I looked around at the whole bunch of people and knew this all started because of Mr. Julius,” Clark said in an interview Friday. Clark and Julius Warren III now co-own the barbershop.

As Clark looks at the other barbershops in the area, he said, he can confidently say that Warren’s touch is seen in all of them, from the barbers teaching the craft to their relationships with one another.

Which is why Clark is hoping to open a barbershop school in honor of Warren, to continue the legacy of training young people.

Brittany Warren and her brother, Julius Warren III, want to start a foundation to honor their father’s legacy by helping young Black entrepreneurs start their own businesses.

She said she picked up a lot of business ethics skills from her father. She said that she and Julius III would spend hours at the barbershop as kids and would decorate the shop for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“He lived a tremendous life. He was so hard-working. He was very generous and he lived his life well, and I’m just very happy,” Brittany Warren said.

Hanging front and center in the barbershop is Warren’s framed lifetime membership in the NAACP.

Willie Flowers, president of the Howard County branch of the NAACP, recalled first getting to know Warren through the civil rights organization. Quickly, Flowers learned all about the barbershop and Warren’s legacy.

“The barbershop was more than a barbershop,” Flowers said. “It was an anchor for relationships, support and guidance to young people.”

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