[1][2] His parents were Eva (née Redmon) and Isaac Newton Warner, a teacher, and principal.

[3] During the summer, he worked as a farmhand, mowed grass, and ran a crusher at a local quarry.

[3] He was drafted for service in World War I, attending officers training in Waco, Texas.

[1][3] After the war, he returned to teaching and was eventually the assistant principal at a vocational school in Wausau, Wisconsin.

[4] While at Wisconsin, he was a member of the Arts and Crafts Club and Square and Compass, an organization for Master Masons.

[3] Warner founded Epsilon Pi Tau honorary society at Ohio State University in 1929.

[9][3] He directed The Terminologial Investigation of Professional and Scientific Terms in Vocational and Practical Arts Education from 1929 to 1933.

[8] In this book and other work, Warner is credited with developing a new curriculum and adding the word "technology" to the industrial arts profession.

[1] During World War II, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, was a member of General Eisenhower's staff in Versailles and London, and received a Purple Heart.

[9] He lectured at more than 100 colleges across the United States and abroad and helped develop industrial arts programs in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.

[7] Epsilon Pi Tau named The William E. Warners Awards Program in his honor.

[3] Warner was a member of the American Legion, the Army and Navy Club of New York, the Newcomen Society of England, and the Rotary.

[1][2] His funeral services were held in Columbus and he was buried in the Forest Home Cemetery in Stevens Point.