First-grade classmates, football rivals, police partners: John Ewing and his chief of staff go way back

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Omaha Mayor-elect John Ewing addressing the transition of the mayor's office to his administration.

As Police Officers John Ewing and Tom Warren wrapped up off-duty work providing security at a high school football game in fall 1998, the course of Omaha history was about to change.

Friends since the first grade, the North Omaha natives had always been ambitious high achievers, and they had joined the police force within a year of each other in the early 1980s. But it seemed now their careers were on different tracks.

Warren, carrying the rank of lieutenant, was soon to be promoted to captain and on his way to becoming Omaha's first Black police chief. Ewing, conversely, was in a career funk after failing to get promoted a couple of times, for almost a decade holding the same sergeant's rank and sticking in a job that had become routine.

That's when Warren decided it was time to give his friend a verbal prodding.

"When are you going to do something more challenging?" Warren asked.

The words at first stung. But Ewing would also soon realize they were just the kick he needed.

As he looks back now, without those brutally honest words, he would not have risen to become a deputy police chief.

He would not have been elected Douglas County treasurer.

And he would not be taking the oath of office Monday as Omaha's first elected Black mayor.

"It was a jump start," Ewing says. "To me, that's what friends do."

Now as Ewing prepares to take over the city's highest office, Warren will again be right at his buddy's side. He will serve as Ewing's chief of staff -- the same job he held under outgoing Mayor Jean Stothert.

Omaha Mayor-Elect John Ewing's goals for first 100 days

That's a reversal of their roles in the Police Department almost two decades ago, when Warren wore the chief's badge and Ewing served as a trusted deputy.

The fact that Ewing asked Warren to be his right-hand man speaks to the deep mutual respect, love, trust and brotherhood the 64-year-old friends have shared for more than half a century.

"We've known each other for most of our lives," Ewing said. "The only relationship with another guy in my entire life that has been as close in terms of how I feel about somebody is my brother and my father."

Warren likewise knows Ewing to be someone he can count on, even in a crisis -- tracing it to their sometimes harrowing days on the street early in their police careers.

"We have been in those close encounters where we had to support one another, when you know it could have been a life or death situation," Warren said. "It's a level of trust and confidence that is unconditional."

Theirs is also a proud North Omaha story, two boys who drove each other, rose above the challenges and negative influences that dragged down many of their peers, and made their marks.

Those familiar with both men say they have the traits and abilities to help keep Omaha moving forward over the next four years.

"From knowing Chief Warren and Mayor-elect Ewing for many years, the city is in great hands with them in charge," said Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.

A friendship rooted in grade school

Ewing and Warren first met in 1967 in Mrs. Mary Givehand's first grade class at Lothrop Elementary School near 24th and Pinkney Streets.

Ewing's father was a carpenter and his mom a health care provider. Both were hardworking and raised their three children "to believe our dreams were possible, and that we were as good as anyone else," Ewing says.

Warren was the son of a meatpacker and health care provider, his parents raising their four kids to value education, service and justice. Warren also had a great role model in older sister, Brenda, who graduated from law school at age 23, was elected to the Omaha City Council and in 1997 came within less than 1,000 votes of becoming Omaha's first Black mayor.

Warren recalls that Ewing at their first meeting was shy and introverted. Ewing remembers them joining other friends for tackle football games on Lothrop's gravel playground.

"We're a little bit smarter than that today," Ewing joked last week.

Warren and Ewing also palled around outside school and played football, basketball and baseball with other kids at nearby Kountze Park. Warren was the better athlete of the two, but the undersized Ewing held his own, both boys fast, disciplined and tough.

By the time they moved on to the seventh grade at Horace Mann Junior High -- today's King Science & Technology Middle School -- they were competing in the classroom, too.

Their world geography teacher reserved the front row of seats for the five students with the highest cumulative test scores, with the desk by the window reserved for No. 1.

The five students usually jockeying for the top position each week included Ewing, Warren, Warren's sweetheart and future wife, Aileen, future military officer Mike DeBolt, and Terry Brewer, a future preacher who -- as it happens -- also was a candidate in this year's Omaha mayor's race.

Warren said if you talk to the five today, you'll get five different versions of who usually occupied the coveted window desk.

"It was just a very collegial, competitive environment where we all motivated each other to be top students," Warren said.

Warren and Ewing competed just as hard in sports.

Warren was the star running back and Ewing the tight end on the Mann football team that claimed the Omaha Public Schools city championship their ninth grade year. Both boys competed on Mann's champion track team, too. (Warren was also a basketball standout.)

A photo of that undefeated football squad shows Warren sitting front and center, wearing the No. 1 jersey and holding the championship plaque.

The photo is in black and white, but the young faces are all Black. That 1975-76 school year was the last before OPS, in response to a court order, implemented busing to desegregate its schools.

The busing plan integrated high schools voluntarily by offering inner-city kids the chance to attend the school of their choice. That sent Warren and Ewing separate ways.

Warren stayed in the neighborhood to attend the former Technical High School due to its athletic heritage, and Ewing had been leaning that way, too. But at the last minute, he instead went west to Northwest High School, convinced by that geography teacher the school would be a better fit for him.

"I was a kid who really valued my teachers," Ewing said.

The friends continued to see each other around the neighborhood but butted helmets as Friday night football rivals.

Their junior year, Warren's Trojans eked out a 14-12 win over Northwest. But as seniors Ewing and the Huskies returned the favor with a 14-13 victory, details of that bitter result still etched in Warren's brain decades later.

After they graduated in the spring of 1979, Warren headed off to Morningside College in Sioux City on a football scholarship. Ewing stayed in Omaha and enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. But their paths would cross again.

Paths cross again in police department

In 1981, Ewing was studying business and working in the stockroom at Sears as part of its management training program. That's when a pair of off-duty Omaha police personnel working security convinced him he should apply to join the force.

At the time, a history of exclusionary hiring practices had made the city's Police Department predominantly White and male. But that was drastically changing. Federal litigation and city consent degree settlements ultimately required the department to significantly boost the hiring of female, Black and Latino officers.

Ewing applied, scored well and was hired as a rookie officer at age 21 in March 1982. He still remembers the feelings of excitement and "what are we getting ourselves into" uncertainty as he and the others in his academy class graduated.

One summer day in 1983, the uniformed Ewing was taking a dinner break at the Arby's at 42nd and Ames when he ran into Warren. Ewing talked to him about joining the force, learning Warren had already applied months earlier. He joined the force in December 1983.

Soon, Warren, too, was patrolling his home streets of North Omaha. And early on, he had an experience that speaks to the pitfalls that he and Ewing had overcome.

Warren and a partner were in Kountze Park when they heard gunfire. A fleeing man told them someone had been shot.

They saw the gunman and chased him down. Warren then returned to the scene and saw the victim -- a young man who had been on that championship football team with him and Ewing. While a paramedic who happened to be in the area worked to save him, Warren could see right away the injury was fatal.

"It made an impression how serious and consequential the job was," Warren said.

As street officers, Ewing and Warren commonly partnered up during Native Omaha Days, the once-every-two-years event that serves as a homecoming celebration for Black Omahans.

Warren was charged with creating the police detail to provide security at the event, and he would always tap Ewing. And at times, they found themselves in hairy situations.

One night Ewing disarmed a woman as she attacked a man with a pair of surgical scissors. Another time, they were breaking up a fight when they heard the distinct "thunk" of a gun hitting the pavement. They seized it and took the man into custody before the weapon could be brought to bear.

Both Ewing and Warren balanced their patrol shifts with work on UNO master's degrees -- a sure ticket to a promotion. They were both looking to climb the department's leadership ranks.

Promotions in the department are competitive. Eligible candidates compete on a written test, in an interview, and in a series of assessed scenarios. That process determines a list of finalists, the chief of police then making the final selection.

A proven competitor, Ewing in 1989 was the first to make sergeant, becoming the head of the crime prevention unit. He worked on the installation of police resource officers in Omaha high schools and oversaw the school drug awareness program.

Warren made sergeant in 1990, heading up a community policing initiative in the city's crime-racked public housing complexes. Then in 1993, the fast riser became a lieutenant. By 1998, he was the longtime leader of the unit charged with officer recruiting, background checks and meeting the consent decree hiring obligations.

Around that same time, Ewing's career seemed to have stalled. He had become discouraged and was at a point where he could have decided to just coast into retirement.

"It seemed he had just lost his ambition," Warren said.

So Warren decided to do something about that.

Warren: 'You need to man up'

The two officers were at Ewing's Northwest alma mater wrapping up security work after a football game, walking side-by-side on the track from the home side to the visitor's side.

Warren told Ewing he thought the crime prevention position underutilized Ewing's sizable talent and potential.

"Look, John, not only do you owe it to yourself, you owe it to your family to put forth your best effort," Warren recalled saying. "You need to man up."

Ewing's initial reaction?

"I thought to myself, 'This guy is supposed to be my friend?' " Ewing recalled.

But he also soon realized Warren was indeed being a true friend. It was just what he needed to hear.

Warren helped Ewing get back into the game by encouraging him to transfer to his recruiting unit. Retaking ownership of his career, Ewing also once again applied for promotions.

In 2002, he made lieutenant. He took over the unit that investigates domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, also lobbying the Legislature to close legal loopholes that made it hard to prosecute child molesters.

Omaha Mayor-Elect John Ewing names Tom Warren as chief of staff

Ewing's rise was capped in September 2004 when Warren -- who a year earlier became department chief -- presided over the ceremony in which Ewing was promoted to deputy chief. Warren says it was one of his proudest moments as chief.

Ewing led the police services bureau, heading up the crime lab, helicopter unit, crime analysis and supply, among other sections. He also became Warren's top aide on fiscal matters, coming to know every nook and cranny of the police budget.

In early 2007, Chief Warren presided over another ceremony and handed Ewing his retirement plaque, capping more than 24 years on the force. Months earlier, Ewing had defeated a three-term incumbent to be elected county treasurer.

Warren then retired in 2008 to become the chief executive of the Urban League of Nebraska, a dream job that allowed him to work to improve life in his native North Omaha.

In that role, he frequently worked with Ewing, who volunteered with a number of institutions active in North Omaha, including 100 Black Men of Omaha, the Empowerment Network, the Charles Drew Health Center and Habitat for Humanity Omaha.

Then in 2021, Warren accepted a job as Stothert's chief of staff, working hand-in-hand with the Republican to run the city. Ewing developed a close bond and respect for Stothert -- which created a touchy situation when Democrat Ewing decided to challenge her in the 2025 election.

Congratulations call turns into reunion

Long before Ewing announced his mayor's bid, he met with Warren and probed his feelings. Warren was upfront, telling Ewing he would be supporting Stothert. Ewing told him he understood.

"We talked about making sure no matter what happened, it would not destroy a lifetime friendship," Ewing said.

Over the course of the campaign, they respected those professional boundaries. They would often see each other at public events and would shake hands and give each other a bro-hug. Warren would hug Ewing's wife, Viv, too. But they otherwise refrained from talking city politics.

Ewing said it was always in the back of his mind that if he prevailed, he would ask Warren if he would be willing to stay on as his chief of staff. But he never broached the subject.

"I didn't want to put him in a more difficult position than he already was," Ewing said. He also thought it would be disrespectful toward Stothert and appear cocky.

But then the results came in on election night, and Ewing had scored a surprisingly resounding victory.

Things were somber at Stothert's gathering. Warren watched his boss concede the race to Ewing. And then he headed home.

Before going to bed, Warren decided he should call his old friend and congratulate him.

Ewing was still at his election night party when he took the call. But amid the euphoria, the mayor-elect turned it into a business call -- and the first official act of his transition to mayor.

He told Warren that if he was willing, he would love to have him as his chief of staff.

"I accepted without hesitation," Warren said.

The reasons were simple: He wanted to see Omaha continue to grow and prosper, to help his friend thrive in his new role, and to continue his own service to the city -- service that for both Warren and Ewing began more than four decades earlier as rookie cops.

Last week there was an easy familiarity among the men as Ewing and Warren recalled their shared past, bantering, laughing and teasing each other. Ewing also thought back to that tipping-point moment on the Northwest track.

While Warren was only trying to rekindle Ewing's ambitions within the Police Department, Ewing said it ultimately helped propel him into his second career in politics, too, giving him the experience that allowed him to sell himself as mayor.

Without it, he said, "I would not have been positioned well enough for people to think, 'OK, this guy can come in and do this job.' "

The story of that night also says a lot about the men's forthright relationship and how they will now work together to advance life in the city. Not only were those words something Ewing needed to hear then, they reflect the kind of unvarnished honesty he needs -- and expects -- from his trusted friend now.

"Tell me what I need to know," Ewing said, "not what I want to hear."

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