Forest Fletcher, 85, died Saturday, Oct. 9, after several years of declining health following a major stroke. He was born July 22, 1925, to Forest Fletcher Sr. and Laura Tucker Fletcher in Lexington, Va., where he grew up.
His antics and daredevil stunts as a boy were legendary around town. Forest earned a B.A. in industrial arts from Virginia Tech and a master's in counseling from its rival, the University of Virginia. He worked early in his career as a high school teacher and then as a highway department right-of-way agent. He served the last decades of his career as a counselor at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center.
Forest and his family moved to Staunton in 1965, where he was an active member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church as vestry member, lay Eucharistic minister and usher chair. He also was a member of the Staunton-Augusta Civic Club.
Forest was known for his love of motorcycles (with sidecars) and airplanes, as well as white-water canoeing and fishing. He regularly commandeered groups of friends and family for "Balcony Blasts" down the James River. He was known for his deep kindness, his treatment of each person as special regardless of their station in life and his ever-ready humor. He would often answer his phone with, "Isn't it a great day to be alive!" Perhaps now he is adding a "forevermore. Amen."
Surviving are his wife of 57 years, Helen Tilson Fletcher, currently a resident of Baldwin Park in Staunton; his daughters, Laura Henry and her husband, Ray, of Auburn, Ala., Anne Grizzle and her husband, David, of Washington, D.C., and Beth Brokaw and her husband, David of Azusa, Calif.; grandchildren, Sara Henry Collins and husband, Matt, of Auburn, Valerie Henry of Durham, N.C., Ben Grizzle and wife, Heather, of London, England, Josh Grizzle and wife, Jane, of Houston, Texas, Andrew Grizzle of Miami, Fla., and Laura and Nathan Brokaw of Azusa; great-grandchildren, Abigail and Annarose Grizzle of London; and a sister, Rosa Fletcher Crocker of Sykesville, Md. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Pat Horan of Albany, N.Y.
A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. today, Oct. 12, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Forest's life may be made to Emmanuel Episcopal Church or to the Boys' Home in Covington.
