The family moved to Renton in 1942, where Jerry attended Kennydale Elementary and graduated RHS in ‘55. At RHS Jerry met JoAnn Hubbard and they were married in 1959. They lived in Renton for the entirety of Jerry’s life, having two children, Ron & Shelly.
Jerry had a great sense of humor – a Forrester trait – and if you knew him, he probably made you laugh at some time. He loved to bowl and was on various bowling teams for 30+ years. He enjoyed reading a good western novel, watching his grandchildren’s sporting events, throwing horseshoes, and travel which was made possible by his wife, JoAnn, working in the travel industry, with cruising, Alaska and Hawaii being his favorites. Jerry was a printer by trade and worked at Craftsman Press in Seattle and continued in the printing industry until his retirement in 2002.
Even though dementia ran its way through Jerry’s life the past 13 years, so much of him still shined through, his love of food, enjoying a good bottle of root beer, his one-liner zingers that left you laughing, bluegrass music, his love & concern for his wife, daughter and grandkids. There’s some joy found in knowing that we took Jerry/Dad on the best of a challenging journey and provided him with loving care until the very end. Everyone should wish for a wife as devoted & constant as JoAnn to care for them as she did for Jerry.
Jerry was preceded in death by his mother and father, Alice and Theodore, his brothers, Ted Forrester and Richard Forrester, and his son, Ron Forrester. He leaves his legacy through his wife, JoAnn Forrester, his daughter, Shelly Forrester Shear and son-in-law Skip Shear, grandchildren Jennifer Shear (Tyler) Kirkevold & Spencer Shear; and honorary daughter and son, Tracey Larson & Jerry Larson, and their children Krista, Tyler, Kimmie & Erik, and honorary great-grandson Broden; his sisters Marie Darthez and Louise Purcell; several nieces and nephews; and many great friends. Jerry had numerous adopted kids who called him Pa, Grandpa or Uncle Jerry that he loved through the years and truly counted as family. Special thanks to Rebecca, Bogden, Ana and Daniel at Garden of Eden Adult Family home for their loving care of Jerry the past 3 years.
A memorial will be held on Dec. 2nd at 1:00pm at Renton Technical College, 3000 NE 4th, Building I, Renton. There will be an open microphone so please bring your favorite stories to share of your memories of Jerry.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18