Obituary of Prentice "Bud" Forrester

P.E. "Bud" Forrester passed away due to cancer on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. He died in the loving arms of his family after 67 full years of life. The last child and only son of Prentice and Dorothy (Dotis) Forrester, Bud was born on March 29, 1946, in Thomasville, Georgia where he spent his early years before joining the Air Force. A Florida State University graduate, Bud had a wide variety of interests, a strong sense of humor, a questioning nature, and more common sense than most. He will truly be missed. Bud is survived by his wife Lana, daughter Cheryl Lea, son Richard, daughter by marriage Victoria Anne, and family pug Junior. Richard and Anne, blessed the family with its first grandchild, William Percy Evan, on Bud's last birthday when he turned 67 years old. Bud is also survived by his sisters Jean Turtzo and June Ingram. Bud's dear brother-in-law Doug Nelson, the spouse of his deceased sister Christine "Jonnie," passed away in Columbus, Georgia just four days before Bud passed. In keeping with Bud's distaste of ceremony, the family will not be holding a service. Bud chose to leave the flowers in their natural environment to be enjoyed wherever they could be seen. Bud's ashes will be spread around the world as his family revisits some of the beautiful places they have lived and shared adventures. To honor Bud's love of the outdoors and because tennis was such a part of his life, the family will be dedicating a tennis bench and shade tree to the Spanish Oaks Tennis Club. If you care to share in this any donations can be sent to the Forrester family. Bud's Poem I lived on the Gulf high on a hill overlooking blue and green and white sandbars. Caught mackerel from the beach, gigged flounder in the dark of night. Sailed the coastline, dove the springs, floated crystal clear rivers. Then I saw the grass and it was greener and I moved. What a fool I am. What a wide chasm, Rims 18 miles apart as the crow flies. The clouds would fill that hole some days. One felt as if one could walk across. Red, white, iron, fossils and trails. Six inches from a Rattlesnake's fang, Geology in an open book. Took a partner for a lifetime and we left. What fools we were. We resided on a canal with a tropical breeze, five minutes from a reef where I speared grouper for an evening meal. Yellowtail spawned in June, Mangrove Snapper in July, when the moon was full. Children came and life changed,... dramatically. Then again the grass appeared and we moved. What a fool I am. What a view I had from the picture window. Ten miles across the bay, with tall pines attracting the lightning as it moved in. Trout and Osprey were a joy, oysters on the half shell, a canoe on the beach, fiddler crabs played their tune, shrimp reflected pink moonlight. What a fool I am, I sold it and moved. Now I remember the sand fleas acid strung like a bee. They were everywhere. Then there is this Idaho, where the owls converse at night, the lioness screams her protest at the audacity of the intrusion. In springtime the mosquitoes rule, and the grizzlies fill their need. The cedar smell prevails, the larch grow tall. Two Ravens watch over their territory and chase the Eagles out. A lone wolf passes through, searching for a mate. A giant woodpecker's hammer disturbs the silence, echos in the distance. It's over there, no.. it's over here. Mushrooms grow in the old smut from last year's fire. A family of Coyotes squeal with delight. The creek tumbles down through the denseness of green. I found the green, and it cannot be any greener. Even in winter, when everything is either green or white. The white is the purifier, Then you realize that Idaho needs it's winter to cleanse the green. Meanwhile, as the creek flows, I am in Las Vegas where life has landed me. Dreaming of the places, I have loved before.