Willie J. Forest Jr.

Willie James Forest, Jr. son of the Willie James Forest, Sr., and Emma Patrick Forest was born July 12, 1937, the oldest of two children. Willie at an early age joined the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Red House, Virginia. Despite contracting polio disease at an early age (3 years old) before the discovery of the Polio vaccine, Willie was able to complete his education in local public schools in Charlotte County, Virginia. He later furthered his education by obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy in 1961 from Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), Petersburg, Virginia. Willie was later united in marriage to Eva Lee Brown on September 16, 1961 to this union there were three children, Gerald, Darryl and Angela. In March 1962, he had to leave his new bride in her third trimester with their 1st child and accepted a position as a Soil Scientist with the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, and ventured from Virginia to go out to the Midwest to Townsend, Montana. Willie’s Federal career took him to several other States after Montana, such as Arizona, North Dakota, Virginia (Falls Church) and finally Colorado. Willie’s Federal Career also expanded to overseas assignments to Kano, Nigeria, West Africa and Mogadishu, Somalia East Africa in support of United States Aid for International Development (USAID). After, 41 years of civil service with the Federal Government, Willie settled into retirement at Lakewood, Colorado by continuing to being astute in mechanics and craftsmanship, and with his love in gardening was mostly recognized for his well-manicured lawns. Willie was preceded in death by his Parents, and untimely death of his grandson Benjamin A-E. Forest. He is survived by his wife of nearly 64 years, Eva B. Forest; sister, Emogene F. Robinson; children, sons, Gerald A. Forest, and Darryl A. Forest, and daughter, Angela D. Forest; daughter-in-laws, Vivian K. Morrison-Forest, and Traceyanne Saltmarsh-Forest; grandsons, Brian K. Morrison, Anthony M. Forest, Callum A. Christie, and Braiden A. Christie, granddaughter-in-law, Amina J. Forest, and great grandson, Marcus J. Morrison.

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