Jacquelynn (Jacquie) Lee Dalrymple Woodworth Ellis Warren
April 28, 1941 - January 14, 2025
Editor's Note: Jacquie Ellis Warren retired after 25 years of distinguished service at the Irvine Chamber of Commerce (now named the Greater Irvine Chamber). She became the President & CEO of the Chamber in June 1989, after serving in various positions with the Chamber since 1984. She retired in 2009. She is admired for her many contributions to the business community. Under her leadership, the Irvine Chamber grew to become a premier business organization with over 1,000 local companies as members. She served as the 1996 Chairman of the Western Association of Chamber Executives and was the recipient of the 2003 Executive of the Year Award, the highest honor bestowed by her chamber industry peers.
Jacquelynn (Jacquie) Warren passed away on Jan. 14, 2025, surrounded by family in Santa Ana, Calif., after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's. She was the firstborn child of Jack and Hazel Dalrymple on April 28, 1941, at The Dalles General Hospital in The Dalles, Oregon. Due to her father’s career as a train conductor, the family moved several times from 1941 to 1950, when Jack was assigned different posts to transport troops for the war. The family moved back to The Dalles permanently in 1950. Brother Tommy Dalrymple joined the family in 1943, sister Kathi came along in 1947, and baby Suzan joined them in 1950. Jacquelynn completed all of her schooling in The Dalles, graduating from The Dalles High School in June 1959. Tap dancing, Rainbow Girls, student leadership, baton, booster club, yell squad, and cruising “the strand” made a busy life for Warren.
She met her husband, Gary Woodworth, in high school, and they married in 1958. In 27 years of marriage, they welcomed son Thomas John in 1959, daughter Toni Gara in 1963, and completing the family daughter Tiffani Erika in 1968 was born.
In 1962 when Gary graduated from Oregon State and began his career, the little family began life as “corporate gypsies” moving to over 10 cities nationally in 27 years and setting up many homes therein. They eventually settled in Irvine in 1982.
While her first job was always doting on her family and making every house an impeccable beautiful home, Jacquelynn simultaneously held many jobs, both volunteer and employed. She worked in optometry, retail, banking, travel, American Red Cross, IRS, and eventually, a job with the Irvine Chamber of Commerce in 1984.
In 1989 she married Jim Ellis and welcomed into her life his four beautiful daughters Lauren, Leigh, Becca, and Jaimee. They restored and shared a cute beach home in Newport Beach, fulfilling a lifelong dream of living at the beach. Tragically, Jim passed away in 2002, and Jacquie was supported by her family and the huge business community she so loved.
Jacquelynn was a born leader and a people person. While never completing a formal college education she attributed her many jobs over the years and the many individuals she worked with as her career education. She received an honorary degree of Associate of Arts in Business Administration from Irvine Valley College in Dec. 2009. Completing Stanford Graduate School of Business Institute’s six-year program also gave her a supporting community she relied on for many years. She was named President & CEO of the Irvine Chamber in 1989, a position she held until her retirement in 2009. She served on many boards in varying capacities with Western Association of Chamber Executives-25 year member and 1987 president, 1988 chairman of the board, Federated Chamber of Commerce of OC (President 1994-95), California Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (Board Member), Soroptimist International, and Families Forward.
Visiting many foreign countries—Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Greece, Mexico, Japan, and China—for work and pleasure, Jacquelynn loved to travel. Her favorite was luxury cruising anywhere it was sunny and hot.
On March 17, 2007 she met her prince charming, Neal Warren. Written on his dating profile was “he is the one” and later proclaimed “it was love at first sight.” Neal proposed on April 1, 2008, with the caveat that she would retire. They married on June 1, 2008, and she retired on March 31, 2009. In a letter she wrote for a class reunion, she recounted that first date, saying, “Neal revealed on that first date that he knew I loved to travel and he didn’t. I said we could change that! Guess what? We have so much fun traveling the world. P.S. He loves it too!”
While she wrote the book on homemaking/home remodels, she had many hobbies. She was a skilled chef and master in the kitchen, the most gracious host and party planner, a gifted artist, a master seamstress, a green thumb, a snow skier, a dancer, a classy best-dressed woman at any occasion, a purveyor of all things chocolate, and collector of any/all kinds of shoes.
She has been honored by too many agencies, corporations, and programs to list here, but her greatest honor has always been “being a mother and grandmother has been and always will be the greatest honor of my life.”
Warren was preceded in death by her parents, Jack D. Dalrymple and Hazel Ann (Parker) Fernald, son Thomas John Woodworth, and husband, James Melville Ellis.
Warren is survived by brother Thomas Dalrymple (Angie), sisters Kathi (Dalrymple) Durst and Suzan (Dalrymple) Nicol (Fred), husband Neal Warren, daughters Toni Woodworth Bradley (Don) and Tiffani Erika Woodworth (Erik), step-children Lauren (Ellis) Sipelis, Leigh (Ellis) Hornik, Rebecca (Ellis) Prismantis, Jaimee Lyn Ellis, Brian Warren, Kymm (Warren) Arbiso (Curtis) and grandchildren Katie Lee Bradley, Emily Grace Bradley, Olli Woodworth, and Finn Thomas Woodworth.
If you are interested in memorializing Jacquelynn Warren, she volunteered and was employed by the American Red Cross. She believed in the ARC mission to help people in need. For years she fundraised for the AIDS WALK in memory of her son Tom. The family also supports UCI Mind, a state, and federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (Include in the memo line: Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and attach a note: in memory of Jacquelynn Warren, and mail to UCI MIND, 2646 Biological Sciences III, Irvine, CA 92697-4545).
A celebration of Jacquelynn Warren’s life and birthday will be held on April 26, 1 p.m., and live-streamed at canvasoc.org.
