Warren Lewis Little

Warren Lewis Little  

Fourth generation Montanan, Warren Lewis Little, age 95, died peacefully at his home in Missoula, Montana, on September 19, 2026. Warren was born October 21, 1930, in Missoula, Montana, the only child of Dighton Little Jr. and Tenina H. Pominville. His father owned the Standard Oil Distribution Company for the state of Montana, was a member of the Montana State Legislature and legendary cattle rancher. Warren spoke French as a child until he left Montana for prep school at age 13 enrolling in the St. Thomas Military Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Warren was an active member of the Class of 1948 at Missoula County High School (MCHS). During the 1946-47 school year, MCHS won state championships in football, basketball, and track. 

Warren earned both his Bachelor's and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Montana by the age of 23. While attending the University of Montana, Warren boxed on the boxing team and lettered on the ROTC rifle team. He fulfilled his ROTC obligation as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the U.S. Air Force at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine, and was a veteran of the Korean War. After his military service, Warren practiced law in Missoula and Ronan. He was a member of the Montana state and federal bars in addition to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in Washington, D.C. Little was a 50-year member of the Montana Bar Association. In 1995, he received the Western Montana Bar Association Public Service Award in recognition of his pro bono work in Montana.  

Always with a keen interest in law enforcement, in 1956, he embarked on a new career with the FBI as a Special Agent. Warren's FBI offices included the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento Divisions, primarily in the Stockton Resident Agency. Warren enjoyed the full spectrum of FBI investigative work, including kidnappings, bank robberies, fugitive investigations, communist matters and applicant cases. He received seven letters of commendation from Director J. Edgar Hoover, as well as commendations and five cash incentive awards during his service from successive Directors. 

Little was particularly proud of his work on the 1976 Chowchilla, California, kidnapping case, in which 26 schoolchildren were taken from a school bus at gunpoint and buried alive for nearly a full day before being rescued. He was also one of two first-office agents in the Los Angeles office who gathered evidence in a tax case that resulted in the conviction of Mafia figure Mickey Cohen. 

He served as the case agent in the 1980 investigation that resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of the senior FBI Resident Agent in charge of the Billings Resident Agency, Marvin Teel, for several federal felony offenses. Director William H. Webster commended Warren for his work on that investigation. The case was classified as an "Unknown Subject" matter and was assigned to Warren rather than to the FBI Inspection Division in Washington, D.C. 

Warren also worked on the investigation that led to the arrest of a Soviet spy who had been working among American nuclear-submarine scientists. He was the sole agent who surveilled the subject to a plane bound for Canada, where the subject intended to meet his Soviet handler. Another notable case involved federal fugitive Robert Rackstraw. Although Rackstraw was in Iran, which had no extradition treaty with the United States, Warren arranged for his arrest when Rackstraw attempted to return to the United States. 

Retiring at age 50 from the FBI, Warren returned to his family Ranch in Missoula. He provided pro bono legal services for the battered women's shelter, worked for several years with BICS (a federal background-investigation agency), and served for six years as the chief inspector for Montana AAA. 

Warren designed and had built a beautiful summer home on Lake Seeley in the western mountains of Montana. He spent many happy years there hiking, biking, swimming and paddle boarding as the sunrise came up over the lake. The second story loft of the house was outfitted as an Aikido dojo-where he hosted many training sessions for enthusiasts from all over the country and Japan through the years.  

Warren was always an adventurer at heart and in his later years he traveled extensively throughout Europe, Russia, Asia and the Far East. Warren enjoyed several transatlantic trips on the Queen Mary, rode elephants in India, cycled across the United States, traversed the rivers and jungles of southeast Asia, skydived at age 75 and visited all 50 states. He loved skiing and, during his 80th year, skied at all 16 of Montana's ski resorts. 

Warren maintained a lifelong interest in Japanese martial arts, earning a third-degree black belt in Judo and a fourth-degree black belt in Aikido. He practiced Aikido in Japan, Turkey, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, and 15 different states. He was instrumental in introducing Aikido to Missoula and establishing the first Dojo there. 

Warren commissioned extensive genealogy research and documentation of the Little family which traced them to the 16th century Highlands of Scotland to 'Clan Little.' A 17th Century ancestor, plantation owner Andrew Little, fought in the American Revolution. With this history, Warren and his son, Douglas Dighton Little, were inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), and his daughter, Linda Marie Little, became a Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR)., Missoula Branches.  

Warren was predeceased by his wife, 4th generation Montanan, Patricia Marie Kelley, whose grandfather, John Kelley, established a 156,000-acre ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana; His daughter, Linda Marie Little (Bart) Bauer of Bozeman, Montana; and his son, Dighton Lewis Little, a detective and SWAT team member with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in Stockton, California. Dighton Lewis was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War and was killed in the line of duty in 1989 at the age of 35 during a narcotics raid. 

Warren was especially proud of his family's tradition of military service, with a long history of family members having served in the American Revolutionary War, World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 

Warren was a life member of J. Edgar Hoover Post 56 of the American Legion, the Elks, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the Western Montana Military Officers Association, and Adventure Cycling. He served as president of the Montana chapter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers and, in 2018, was elected president of the Montana chapter of the Former Agents of the FBI. He was also a member of the Missoula Country Club where he enjoyed hosting friends and guests from all over the world.  

He enjoyed riding his Honda Goldwing and rode it coast to coast. He was a former member of the Kiwanis Clubs of Billings and Missoula. Warren received the George Hixson Award for Philanthropy from Kiwanis International. He was a proud member of Sigma Nu fraternity and remained active in its alumni activities, often hosting weekly luncheons through the years for the fraternity brothers. 

Warren is survived by his son Douglas Dighton Little of Wilsonville, Oregon and his longtime companion, Agatha Gary of Missoula. Douglas Dighton Little would like to extend his thanks and personal gratitude to Warren's loyal caregivers: Brenda Harrold, Dale Walker and Dana Hay. They made Warren's last year a happy one. 

At Warren's request, no formal funeral service will be held.  

His Aikido family gathered to honor his passing and celebrate his life.  

His ashes have been interred in the Little Family burial plot at St. Mary's Catholic (New) Cemetery  

in Missoula. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Warren's memory to one of the following:  

Dighton Lewis Little Law Enforcement Scholarship 

Financial Aid 

San Joaquin Delta College 

5151 Pacific Avenue 

Stockton, CA 95207 

San Joaquin County Sheriff Office 

Fallen Officer Memorial Fund 

7000 Michael Canlis Boulevard 

French Camp, California 95231