Richard “Dick” Leslie Forness, 87 years old, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 28th, 2021, at his home in Merritt Island, FL, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his two brothers, Bob and Gene, three of his sons, Paul, Peter, and Thomas, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren (soon to be eight).
Dick was born and raised in Hamburg, NY. He was drafted into the Army in 1953, where his penchant for electronics and aerospace was nurtured. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1957 and went to work for Philco. This quickly provided him an opportunity to travel to Morocco to work as a civilian contractor for the Air Force. While in Morocco he met his beloved wife, Shirley, in 1960. They married in 1961 and had four sons over the next 5 years.
When the contract with the Air Force was over Dick went to work for Northrup Grumman; first in Bethpage, NY, and then in White Sands, NM, where he worked on the Apollo program helping to build the Lunar Module that went to the moon. In 1968 the family moved to Maryland, and Dick continued to work on various space programs for the rest of his career.
Dick retired in 1998 and moved to Florida with his wife in 2002. Shirley, who had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis many years earlier, passed away in 2007. Dick was her primary caregiver up until her last day. His youngest son, David, passed away in 2018.
Dick had many hobbies, including breeding and raising tropical fish, electronic kit building, model rocketry, model airplane building, and going to every air show he could. He shared these with his sons, who to this day continue enjoying them. While not the most outspoken person, he was always quick with “zingers”, as we called them, whenever he could get them in. As Dick moves on to the next chapter in his journey, we leave you with the signature signoff from his 40 years of daily journal entries:
Stay tuned…
Flowers and/or memorial contributions to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are equally welcome.
A memorial service will be held at 9:30am on Friday 26 November 2021, at Faith Lutheran Church in Merritt Island FL. A graveside committal service with military honors will be held at 12:30pm on Friday 26 November 2021, at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims FL. A memorial spaceflight will be held in late 2023 at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island FL, when a small portion of Dick’s ashes will be launched to the moon.
Faith Lutheran Church
280 E Merritt Ave
Merritt Island, FL 32953
(321) 452-4080
https://www.faithlutheranmi.org/
Cape Canaveral National Cemetery
5525 U.S. Highway 1, North
Mims, FL 32754
(321) 383-2638
https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/capecanaveral.asp
Kennedy Space Center
Space Commerce Way
Merritt Island, FL 32953
(855) 433-4210
https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html
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