Who was Warren Upton’s wife Gene? All we know as oldest living Pearl Harbor attack survivor dies at 105 

The oldest living survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, Robert Warren Upton, passed away at the age of 105 on Wednesday. His death was announced by a veterans group.

Warren Upton was aboard the USS Utah in 1941, as he was serving when the Japanese launched a surprise attack. The battleship was subjected to the wrath of torpedoes, causing it to sink at the beginning of the attack on December 9, 1941. That day, Warren Upton survived on that ship while fifty-eight crewmembers died.

According to his obituary, he was married to Valeria Gene Upton, a former Navy Nurse, until her demise in 2018. Gene Upton held stints in the Navy Nurse Corps and several other US Navy facilities until she was honorably discharged in March 1946. She then trained for and became a Public Health Nurse in Medford, Oregon. The two shared five children: Dennis, Charles, Mary, Jill, and Barbara Upton, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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Everything we know about Warren Upton: the life and legacy he leaves behind

Reportedly, Warren was briefly admitted to the hospital in San Jose, California before he met his demise, Pacific Historic Parks/USS Arizona Memorial, a Hawaiian nonprofit organization, revealed in a Facebook post on Thursday. He was surrounded by his family at the time, the post reveals. Per Newsweek, he succumbed to a bout of pneumonia.

Aboard the USS Utah, a 22-year-old Warren held the role of a radioman. When the battleship was hit, Warren and the others were forced to make a run for it as they dived into the stormy waters and swam to Ford Island for safety. Along the way, Warren Upton hauled someone who didn't know how to swim to safety. He stayed there for half an hour before a truck came to rescue him.

Warren Upton continued to serve the same post as the war raged on, and once it was over, he went on to meet his wife, Gene. The two eventually started a family. During his interview with AP when he was 101 years old, he revealed that he didn't mind sharing anecdotes from his time aboard the USS Utah battleship.

What did bother him, though, was that he kept losing fellow surviving shipmates over the years. When he sat down for the interview in 2020, he was one of three crew members still alive. Warren celebrated his 105th birthday on October 17, 2024.

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Pearl Harbor Survivor Warren "Red" Upton, the last living survivor of the USS Utah. Following a short hospital stay, Warren died on December 25th surrounded by his loving family. At age 105, he was the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor," the Facebook post reads.

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In the wake of Robert Warren Upton's passing, only 15 out of the 87,000 military personnel who were on O'ahu on the day of the attack are still alive, Spectrum News has reported.