Lois Ronna Bialick Forster

Lois had many fond memories growing up on the north side of Minneapolis. Her parents both had large families, and she was raised in a close-knit family of her numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. She was proud and devoted to her large family throughout her life. She spent two years at the University of Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in elementary education. She accepted a position with Montgomery County Public Schools and relocated to the DC area to teach fourth and sixth grades, work that she loved dearly.

In 1965, Lois married Dr. Norman H. Forster (DDS) of Washington DC, and they settled down and raised three children, Adam, Todd, and Heidi, in Potomac, Maryland. She loved being a mother and created a nurturing home focused on learning, reading, accountability, trust, family, friendships, and love. The family enjoyed fun vacations to the West Virginia mountains (Cacapon Resort State Park) and to Sandbridge (Virginia) Beach. Her children’s friends recently praised her for providing a warm second home, with several considering her “a second mother.”

While busy raising her children, Lois started her own business selling magazine subscriptions at discount prices (The Magazine Rack) and later founded Party Bouquets – a balloon and flower business that catered to weddings, mitzvahs and other celebrations that employed her children and their friends, one of whom remembered her as his “first and best boss”.

Lois was a foodie specializing in desserts, particularly her cherry cheesecake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake and her chocolate marshmallow brownies. Lois was a fierce advocate for beginning meals with dessert. She had assembled a large collection of fake desserts to remind her both of this passion and her first cousins who call themselves “the Sweet Tooth Generation.”

Her family were early members of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac. Lois was President of both her teenage USY (United Synagogue Youth) chapter and ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation Through Training). As a result of her frustration with the lack of comfort provided to her father at the time of his passing, Lois became a hospice volunteer for JSSA (Jewish Social Service Agency) helping the dying and their families with end-of-life emotions, wishes and logistics. She served with hospice for 36 years, and, in 2014, JSSA presented her with the Jac J. Lehrman-George M. Pikser Award for her dedicated and outstanding service to the community. Her children plan to honor that legacy in creating the Lois B. Forster Hospice Volunteer Award through JSSA.

In her later years, Lois continued her passion for teaching by volunteering to teach elementary school children at a Native American reservation in Arizona. She avidly attended online learning courses and discussions through Oasis and Brandeis. For many years, she played and taught the card game Canasta and participated in multiple weekly Canasta games with her card groups into her eighties.

She is survived by her children Adam (Miri) Forster, Todd (Nicole) Forster and Heidi (Greg) Gertner and her step-son Seth (Debbie) Forster, her nine grandchildren Emily, Orli, Elie, Ari, Heath, Abigail, Chase, Jason and Scott, her brother Butch (Linda) Bialick and sister Joyce Rubin.

There will be a memorial service celebrating Lois’ life at Har Shalom on Monday, May 12, 2025, and a gathering in the evening at the house of Heidi and Greg Gertner. Per her wishes, Lois will be buried near her parents in a service on May 14, 2025, at United Hebrew Brotherhood Cemetery in Minnesota. Donations should be made to JSSA Hospice.