Warren "JUG" Louis Braden , Jr.

Warren “JUG” Braden entered into eternal life on Sunday June 19th, 2016 at the age of 87. He married the love of his life, Barbara Antoinette Montegut on January 15,1950. They were married for 55 years until her passing in 2005. Their blessed union produced four children, son Bruce (Collise), daughter Leontine Johnson (the late John), daughter Kay Brown (Sidney), and son Brian (Virginia). Warren was a lifelong resident of New Orleans. A graduate of Xavier Prep High School, where he led the Yellow Jackets to state championships in football. He also proceeded to lead Southern University to state championships, guiding the Jaguars to two national championships and their last undefeated and untied season in 1948. That same year he quarterbacked Southern to victory, over San Francisco State, in the first interracial collegiate bowl game played in the United States, the Fruit Bowl, in San Francisco, Ca. He was voted MVP! He made the Pittsburgh Courier’s All-American team twice, and was also named to the Tom Harmon All-American team in 1949. “Warren Braden was sort of a Joe Montana type,” said legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson in 1998. “He was a guy who would take charge, and he was a great ball-handler and field general.” While attending Southern University in Baton Rouge, Jug was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. After finishing at Southern, Warren later became a football and track coach at W.L. Cohen High School before moving on to G.W. Carver High School. After retiring from the Orleans Parish public school system, he taught Physical Education and coached at St. Augustine High School for four years. He also worked as a lifeguard during the summer from the mid 1950’s thru the mid 1960’s at Lincoln Beach and the Lakefront. During his time as a lifeguard he was credited with saving scores of lives while risking his own. For his life saving achievements Warren was recognized by the Orleans Parish Levee Board, City of New Orleans and most notable, two personal letters from the late Congressman Hale Boggs. Coach, as he was known to many, is a member of the Southern University Hall of Fame, the SWAC Hall of Fame, the Allstate Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Coach’s crowning achievement was being an extraordinary caregiver to his wife Barbara for five years until her death in 2005 from the effects of a stroke suffered in 2000. He will be sorely missed. Jug is survived by four children, eleven grandchildren, thirty-two great grandchildren and one great-great child and a host of other relatives and friends. Relatives and friends of the family, also Alumni of Xavier Prep High School, G.W. Carver High School, St. Augustine High School, W.L. Cohen High School, and fellow Hall of Fame members are invited to celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial held on Saturday, June 25th, 2016 at Corpus Christi-Epiphany Church, 2022 St. Bernard Ave., NOLA at 10:00 am. Visitation starting at 9 a.m. Arrangements by: D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, 3933 Washington Ave., NOLA. Interment: Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sign online guestbook.

Warren "JUG" Louis Braden , Jr.

June 19, 2016