Grover "Forrest" Adams, age 100, of Weatherford, Oklahoma (formerly of Manhattan, KS) died peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning, November 26, 2023 in Weatherford, OK. He was born at home in Burden, Kansas on August 31, 1923, to Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth (McCallister) Adams. Forrest was the youngest of their six children.
Generally known as Forrest, he attended grade school in Burden, KS often riding his horse, Nelle, to school. As they neared school, if the marching band was practicing, Nelle would start prancing in time to the music. Forrest attended Labette County Community High School in Altamont, KS where he played the mellophone in band and was noted to have a nice, Irish tenor singing voice. One day, while Forrest was singing in the high school auditorium, his voice caught the ear of his future wife Miriam as she walked down the high school hallway. She had to know who it was that had that lovely singing voice. During his high school term, he had a room in town, where he perfected making all kinds of specialty pancakes which his future children would cherish. After graduating high school in 1941, he attended Ottawa University in Kansas for one year, majoring in pre-med.
World War II was in full swing as he finished his first year of college and he enlisted in the Army. Upon completion of basic training, he shipped out to England where he first served as a dental assistant then as a medic. He participated in Operation Overlord and the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day, landing 70 minutes after the first wave. Forrest stated that he and his litter squad carried out over 900 men during the war.
In the early years following the war, Forrest seldom talked about his war experiences, but in later life he shared many stories with us and wrote extensively about his impressions of the war. Time and space don't allow for recounting all the experiences he wrote about, but he did earn numerous medals for heroic action in saving the lives of wounded soldiers.
Following the war, he returned to Kansas and married his high school sweetheart, Miriam Haury, on January 1, 1946. Forrest and Miriam lived in Manhattan, KS where Forrest attended Kansas State University. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Vocational Agriculture. Along with his studies, he apprenticed with a greatly respected master carpenter. He became a highly skilled carpenter himself and maker of lovely cabinetry. His first post-graduation job was teaching Vocational Ag at Seneca High School in Seneca, KS. During their time in Seneca, Forrest and Miriam were blessed with three children, David, Rebecca and Stephen. One memory from this time was a gigantic sandbox he built for them in the backyard that afforded many hours of fun and exploration.
Following six years of teaching, Forrest worked for Caterpillar as a technical manual writer. This required him to commute 400 miles each way from Seneca to Peoria, Illinois only being able to be home on the weekends. When this became too much of a burden for his family, they moved their young family to Topeka, KS where he joined a startup company promoting the new revolutionary black plastic "horizontal silo" for farmers. Not only was this an exciting new advancement for farmers, but it also allowed him to be home more.
In 1960 they moved back to Manhattan where Forrest went to work for Kansas State University in the Department of Continuing Education. After 3 years, that job ended, and he was employed 15 miles west of Manhattan at Ft. Riley teaching English and Math. In the backyard of their Manhattan home, he built a swing made from a gunny sack filled with sand hung from a huge elm tree by a thick rope. All three of his kids enjoyed endless hours flying on this swing that seemed to transport you to the sky.
He began working at Kansas Farm Bureau in 1965 as a legislative aid. While working for Farm Bureau, he was responsible for helping develop the first computerized accounting program for farmers (Farmis), traveling all over Kansas promoting and educating farmers on this new system to greatly assist their complex accounting tasks. Following his time at Farm Bureau, Forrest worked at various sales jobs, often working long hours at multiple jobs, before finally landing at Sears in 1972.
Forrest's first wife, Miriam, passed away in 1966 following a long illness, leaving him to raise his three children by himself. As a single father working long hours to provide for his family, he supported them in every way he knew and was proud of the character his three children displayed.
In 1971, he married Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams, whom he had known from his time working at Farm Bureau. They were married in a simple ceremony on Sunday, December 19, 1971 just prior to his daughter Rebecca (Becky) getting married the following Friday, December 24, 1971.
Forrest and Julia bought a tiny, unwinterized cabin on Mill Cove at Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan in 1975 and spent many hours working on it before moving there in 1976. Forrest was a consummate woodworker and spent hours crafting cabinets and other intricate details for the house. Julia spent her post retirement years doing her share of the work making the cabin into a wonderful home at Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Working in his spare time, a few boards at a time, Forrest turned that tiny cabin into an impressive elegant two-story split-level home including a large sunroom/greenhouse, garage, and workshop. He also built a large separate classic-looking two-story barn.
Forrest and Julia helped his son David and wife build their new home in Topeka in 1987. Forrest and David did the duct work and Julia and Forrest added the eye-catching limestone accent siding to the front of the house.
The rest of his working years, Forrest worked as a home improvement salesman at the Sears store in Manhattan, helping people update and remodel their kitchens until he retired from full-time work in 1987. Following retirement, he remained active installing garage door openers and various other home improvement items. He finally retired from that line of work in 2007 due to his advancing age and his wife Julia's health needs.
Forrest was a man of faith and became involved with Sedalia Community Church where he served as a trustee, Irish tenor in the church choir, and general handyman for many years. When the church wanted to build an annex, he became the unofficial construction foreman, going by every night after work and leaving notes for the construction crew. They would arrive in the morning to find those notes scribbled on sheetrock, 2x4's or whatever else was handy. He made sure things were done right.
Julia passed away in 2008, leaving Forrest to live by himself until 2012. Becky and Tim returned from living in China and moved in with him in his Tuttle Creek home until they could find a home of their own. It was at this time that Forrest developed some health issues. One was a thyroid problem but the major one was colon cancer. He had surgery in January 2013 and following recovery, began to live with Becky and Tim in Manhattan. While he recovered physically from the surgery and never had any other signs of cancer, the impact of the thyroid problem, age, and the surgery led to a slow cognitive decline.
Forrest moved with Becky and Tim to Oklahoma in September 2019 and continued living there with them for a couple of years before he moved to Homestead Senior Living Center in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he enjoyed good care from the caring and friendly staff there.
On August 31, 2023, he celebrated his 100th birthday with many family and friends attending his party.
Forrest was preceded in death by his first wife, Miriam Haury Adams; second wife, Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams; his parents, Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth Adams; three brothers, Glenn Adams; Wayne Adams; Russell Adams; sister, Mabel Riggs; step-daughter, Margene Blasing Moss; and step granddaughter, Debra Todd.
Survivors include his son, David (Christine) Adams, Topeka, KS, son, Steve (Sue) Adams, North Richland Hills, Texas; daughter, Rebecca "Becky" Adams (Tim) McDonald, Clinton, Oklahoma; step-son, Robert Blasing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; step-daughter, Patricia (Chuck) Krushinsky, Peyton, Colorado; 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces; nephews; great nieces; and great nephews.
Funeral service at Sedalia Community Church, Manhattan, KS. Burial, with military honors, in the Sedalia Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Sedalia Community Church for a memorial garden bench for the church or to the Alzheimer's Association. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, Manhattan, KS.
Generally known as Forrest, he attended grade school in Burden, KS often riding his horse, Nelle, to school. As they neared school, if the marching band was practicing, Nelle would start prancing in time to the music. Forrest attended Labette County Community High School in Altamont, KS where he played the mellophone in band and was noted to have a nice, Irish tenor singing voice. One day, while Forrest was singing in the high school auditorium, his voice caught the ear of his future wife Miriam as she walked down the high school hallway. She had to know who it was that had that lovely singing voice. During his high school term, he had a room in town, where he perfected making all kinds of specialty pancakes which his future children would cherish. After graduating high school in 1941, he attended Ottawa University in Kansas for one year, majoring in pre-med.
World War II was in full swing as he finished his first year of college and he enlisted in the Army. Upon completion of basic training, he shipped out to England where he first served as a dental assistant then as a medic. He participated in Operation Overlord and the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day, landing 70 minutes after the first wave. Forrest stated that he and his litter squad carried out over 900 men during the war.
In the early years following the war, Forrest seldom talked about his war experiences, but in later life he shared many stories with us and wrote extensively about his impressions of the war. Time and space don't allow for recounting all the experiences he wrote about, but he did earn numerous medals for heroic action in saving the lives of wounded soldiers.
Following the war, he returned to Kansas and married his high school sweetheart, Miriam Haury, on January 1, 1946. Forrest and Miriam lived in Manhattan, KS where Forrest attended Kansas State University. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Vocational Agriculture. Along with his studies, he apprenticed with a greatly respected master carpenter. He became a highly skilled carpenter himself and maker of lovely cabinetry. His first post-graduation job was teaching Vocational Ag at Seneca High School in Seneca, KS. During their time in Seneca, Forrest and Miriam were blessed with three children, David, Rebecca and Stephen. One memory from this time was a gigantic sandbox he built for them in the backyard that afforded many hours of fun and exploration.
Following six years of teaching, Forrest worked for Caterpillar as a technical manual writer. This required him to commute 400 miles each way from Seneca to Peoria, Illinois only being able to be home on the weekends. When this became too much of a burden for his family, they moved their young family to Topeka, KS where he joined a startup company promoting the new revolutionary black plastic "horizontal silo" for farmers. Not only was this an exciting new advancement for farmers, but it also allowed him to be home more.
In 1960 they moved back to Manhattan where Forrest went to work for Kansas State University in the Department of Continuing Education. After 3 years, that job ended, and he was employed 15 miles west of Manhattan at Ft. Riley teaching English and Math. In the backyard of their Manhattan home, he built a swing made from a gunny sack filled with sand hung from a huge elm tree by a thick rope. All three of his kids enjoyed endless hours flying on this swing that seemed to transport you to the sky.
He began working at Kansas Farm Bureau in 1965 as a legislative aid. While working for Farm Bureau, he was responsible for helping develop the first computerized accounting program for farmers (Farmis), traveling all over Kansas promoting and educating farmers on this new system to greatly assist their complex accounting tasks. Following his time at Farm Bureau, Forrest worked at various sales jobs, often working long hours at multiple jobs, before finally landing at Sears in 1972.
Forrest's first wife, Miriam, passed away in 1966 following a long illness, leaving him to raise his three children by himself. As a single father working long hours to provide for his family, he supported them in every way he knew and was proud of the character his three children displayed.
In 1971, he married Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams, whom he had known from his time working at Farm Bureau. They were married in a simple ceremony on Sunday, December 19, 1971 just prior to his daughter Rebecca (Becky) getting married the following Friday, December 24, 1971.
Forrest and Julia bought a tiny, unwinterized cabin on Mill Cove at Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan in 1975 and spent many hours working on it before moving there in 1976. Forrest was a consummate woodworker and spent hours crafting cabinets and other intricate details for the house. Julia spent her post retirement years doing her share of the work making the cabin into a wonderful home at Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Working in his spare time, a few boards at a time, Forrest turned that tiny cabin into an impressive elegant two-story split-level home including a large sunroom/greenhouse, garage, and workshop. He also built a large separate classic-looking two-story barn.
Forrest and Julia helped his son David and wife build their new home in Topeka in 1987. Forrest and David did the duct work and Julia and Forrest added the eye-catching limestone accent siding to the front of the house.
The rest of his working years, Forrest worked as a home improvement salesman at the Sears store in Manhattan, helping people update and remodel their kitchens until he retired from full-time work in 1987. Following retirement, he remained active installing garage door openers and various other home improvement items. He finally retired from that line of work in 2007 due to his advancing age and his wife Julia's health needs.
Forrest was a man of faith and became involved with Sedalia Community Church where he served as a trustee, Irish tenor in the church choir, and general handyman for many years. When the church wanted to build an annex, he became the unofficial construction foreman, going by every night after work and leaving notes for the construction crew. They would arrive in the morning to find those notes scribbled on sheetrock, 2x4's or whatever else was handy. He made sure things were done right.
Julia passed away in 2008, leaving Forrest to live by himself until 2012. Becky and Tim returned from living in China and moved in with him in his Tuttle Creek home until they could find a home of their own. It was at this time that Forrest developed some health issues. One was a thyroid problem but the major one was colon cancer. He had surgery in January 2013 and following recovery, began to live with Becky and Tim in Manhattan. While he recovered physically from the surgery and never had any other signs of cancer, the impact of the thyroid problem, age, and the surgery led to a slow cognitive decline.
Forrest moved with Becky and Tim to Oklahoma in September 2019 and continued living there with them for a couple of years before he moved to Homestead Senior Living Center in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he enjoyed good care from the caring and friendly staff there.
On August 31, 2023, he celebrated his 100th birthday with many family and friends attending his party.
Forrest was preceded in death by his first wife, Miriam Haury Adams; second wife, Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams; his parents, Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth Adams; three brothers, Glenn Adams; Wayne Adams; Russell Adams; sister, Mabel Riggs; step-daughter, Margene Blasing Moss; and step granddaughter, Debra Todd.
Survivors include his son, David (Christine) Adams, Topeka, KS, son, Steve (Sue) Adams, North Richland Hills, Texas; daughter, Rebecca "Becky" Adams (Tim) McDonald, Clinton, Oklahoma; step-son, Robert Blasing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; step-daughter, Patricia (Chuck) Krushinsky, Peyton, Colorado; 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces; nephews; great nieces; and great nephews.
Funeral service at Sedalia Community Church, Manhattan, KS. Burial, with military honors, in the Sedalia Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Sedalia Community Church for a memorial garden bench for the church or to the Alzheimer's Association. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, Manhattan, KS.
Grover "Forrest" Adams, age 100, of Weatherford, Oklahoma (formerly of Manhattan, KS) died peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning, November 26, 2023 in Weatherford, OK. He was born at home in Burden, Kansas on August 31, 1923, to Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth (McCallister) Adams. Forrest was the youngest of their six children.
Generally known as Forrest, he attended grade school in Burden, KS often riding his horse, Nelle, to school. As they neared school, if the marching band was practicing, Nelle would start prancing in time to the music. Forrest attended Labette County Community High School in Altamont, KS where he played the mellophone in band and was noted to have a nice, Irish tenor singing voice. One day, while Forrest was singing in the high school auditorium, his voice caught the ear of his future wife Miriam as she walked down the high school hallway. She had to know who it was that had that lovely singing voice. During his high school term, he had a room in town, where he perfected making all kinds of specialty pancakes which his future children would cherish. After graduating high school in 1941, he attended Ottawa University in Kansas for one year, majoring in pre-med.
World War II was in full swing as he finished his first year of college and he enlisted in the Army. Upon completion of basic training, he shipped out to England where he first served as a dental assistant then as a medic. He participated in Operation Overlord and the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day, landing 70 minutes after the first wave. Forrest stated that he and his litter squad carried out over 900 men during the war.
In the early years following the war, Forrest seldom talked about his war experiences, but in later life he shared many stories with us and wrote extensively about his impressions of the war. Time and space don't allow for recounting all the experiences he wrote about, but he did earn numerous medals for heroic action in saving the lives of wounded soldiers.
Following the war, he returned to Kansas and married his high school sweetheart, Miriam Haury, on January 1, 1946. Forrest and Miriam lived in Manhattan, KS where Forrest attended Kansas State University. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Vocational Agriculture. Along with his studies, he apprenticed with a greatly respected master carpenter. He became a highly skilled carpenter himself and maker of lovely cabinetry. His first post-graduation job was teaching Vocational Ag at Seneca High School in Seneca, KS. During their time in Seneca, Forrest and Miriam were blessed with three children, David, Rebecca and Stephen. One memory from this time was a gigantic sandbox he built for them in the backyard that afforded many hours of fun and exploration.
Following six years of teaching, Forrest worked for Caterpillar as a technical manual writer. This required him to commute 400 miles each way from Seneca to Peoria, Illinois only being able to be home on the weekends. When this became too much of a burden for his family, they moved their young family to Topeka, KS where he joined a startup company promoting the new revolutionary black plastic "horizontal silo" for farmers. Not only was this an exciting new advancement for farmers, but it also allowed him to be home more.
In 1960 they moved back to Manhattan where Forrest went to work for Kansas State University in the Department of Continuing Education. After 3 years, that job ended, and he was employed 15 miles west of Manhattan at Ft. Riley teaching English and Math. In the backyard of their Manhattan home, he built a swing made from a gunny sack filled with sand hung from a huge elm tree by a thick rope. All three of his kids enjoyed endless hours flying on this swing that seemed to transport you to the sky.
He began working at Kansas Farm Bureau in 1965 as a legislative aid. While working for Farm Bureau, he was responsible for helping develop the first computerized accounting program for farmers (Farmis), traveling all over Kansas promoting and educating farmers on this new system to greatly assist their complex accounting tasks. Following his time at Farm Bureau, Forrest worked at various sales jobs, often working long hours at multiple jobs, before finally landing at Sears in 1972.
Forrest's first wife, Miriam, passed away in 1966 following a long illness, leaving him to raise his three children by himself. As a single father working long hours to provide for his family, he supported them in every way he knew and was proud of the character his three children displayed.
In 1971, he married Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams, whom he had known from his time working at Farm Bureau. They were married in a simple ceremony on Sunday, December 19, 1971 just prior to his daughter Rebecca (Becky) getting married the following Friday, December 24, 1971.
Forrest and Julia bought a tiny, unwinterized cabin on Mill Cove at Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan in 1975 and spent many hours working on it before moving there in 1976. Forrest was a consummate woodworker and spent hours crafting cabinets and other intricate details for the house. Julia spent her post retirement years doing her share of the work making the cabin into a wonderful home at Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Working in his spare time, a few boards at a time, Forrest turned that tiny cabin into an impressive elegant two-story split-level home including a large sunroom/greenhouse, garage, and workshop. He also built a large separate classic-looking two-story barn.
Forrest and Julia helped his son David and wife build their new home in Topeka in 1987. Forrest and David did the duct work and Julia and Forrest added the eye-catching limestone accent siding to the front of the house.
The rest of his working years, Forrest worked as a home improvement salesman at the Sears store in Manhattan, helping people update and remodel their kitchens until he retired from full-time work in 1987. Following retirement, he remained active installing garage door openers and various other home improvement items. He finally retired from that line of work in 2007 due to his advancing age and his wife Julia's health needs.
Forrest was a man of faith and became involved with Sedalia Community Church where he served as a trustee, Irish tenor in the church choir, and general handyman for many years. When the church wanted to build an annex, he became the unofficial construction foreman, going by every night after work and leaving notes for the construction crew. They would arrive in the morning to find those notes scribbled on sheetrock, 2x4's or whatever else was handy. He made sure things were done right.
Julia passed away in 2008, leaving Forrest to live by himself until 2012. Becky and Tim returned from living in China and moved in with him in his Tuttle Creek home until they could find a home of their own. It was at this time that Forrest developed some health issues. One was a thyroid problem but the major one was colon cancer. He had surgery in January 2013 and following recovery, began to live with Becky and Tim in Manhattan. While he recovered physically from the surgery and never had any other signs of cancer, the impact of the thyroid problem, age, and the surgery led to a slow cognitive decline.
Forrest moved with Becky and Tim to Oklahoma in September 2019 and continued living there with them for a couple of years before he moved to Homestead Senior Living Center in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he enjoyed good care from the caring and friendly staff there.
On August 31, 2023, he celebrated his 100th birthday with many family and friends attending his party.
Forrest was preceded in death by his first wife, Miriam Haury Adams; second wife, Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams; his parents, Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth Adams; three brothers, Glenn Adams; Wayne Adams; Russell Adams; sister, Mabel Riggs; step-daughter, Margene Blasing Moss; and step granddaughter, Debra Todd.
Survivors include his son, David (Christine) Adams, Topeka, KS, son, Steve (Sue) Adams, North Richland Hills, Texas; daughter, Rebecca "Becky" Adams (Tim) McDonald, Clinton, Oklahoma; step-son, Robert Blasing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; step-daughter, Patricia (Chuck) Krushinsky, Peyton, Colorado; 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces; nephews; great nieces; and great nephews.
Funeral service at Sedalia Community Church, Manhattan, KS. Burial, with military honors, in the Sedalia Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Sedalia Community Church for a memorial garden bench for the church or to the Alzheimer's Association. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, Manhattan, KS.
Generally known as Forrest, he attended grade school in Burden, KS often riding his horse, Nelle, to school. As they neared school, if the marching band was practicing, Nelle would start prancing in time to the music. Forrest attended Labette County Community High School in Altamont, KS where he played the mellophone in band and was noted to have a nice, Irish tenor singing voice. One day, while Forrest was singing in the high school auditorium, his voice caught the ear of his future wife Miriam as she walked down the high school hallway. She had to know who it was that had that lovely singing voice. During his high school term, he had a room in town, where he perfected making all kinds of specialty pancakes which his future children would cherish. After graduating high school in 1941, he attended Ottawa University in Kansas for one year, majoring in pre-med.
World War II was in full swing as he finished his first year of college and he enlisted in the Army. Upon completion of basic training, he shipped out to England where he first served as a dental assistant then as a medic. He participated in Operation Overlord and the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day, landing 70 minutes after the first wave. Forrest stated that he and his litter squad carried out over 900 men during the war.
In the early years following the war, Forrest seldom talked about his war experiences, but in later life he shared many stories with us and wrote extensively about his impressions of the war. Time and space don't allow for recounting all the experiences he wrote about, but he did earn numerous medals for heroic action in saving the lives of wounded soldiers.
Following the war, he returned to Kansas and married his high school sweetheart, Miriam Haury, on January 1, 1946. Forrest and Miriam lived in Manhattan, KS where Forrest attended Kansas State University. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Vocational Agriculture. Along with his studies, he apprenticed with a greatly respected master carpenter. He became a highly skilled carpenter himself and maker of lovely cabinetry. His first post-graduation job was teaching Vocational Ag at Seneca High School in Seneca, KS. During their time in Seneca, Forrest and Miriam were blessed with three children, David, Rebecca and Stephen. One memory from this time was a gigantic sandbox he built for them in the backyard that afforded many hours of fun and exploration.
Following six years of teaching, Forrest worked for Caterpillar as a technical manual writer. This required him to commute 400 miles each way from Seneca to Peoria, Illinois only being able to be home on the weekends. When this became too much of a burden for his family, they moved their young family to Topeka, KS where he joined a startup company promoting the new revolutionary black plastic "horizontal silo" for farmers. Not only was this an exciting new advancement for farmers, but it also allowed him to be home more.
In 1960 they moved back to Manhattan where Forrest went to work for Kansas State University in the Department of Continuing Education. After 3 years, that job ended, and he was employed 15 miles west of Manhattan at Ft. Riley teaching English and Math. In the backyard of their Manhattan home, he built a swing made from a gunny sack filled with sand hung from a huge elm tree by a thick rope. All three of his kids enjoyed endless hours flying on this swing that seemed to transport you to the sky.
He began working at Kansas Farm Bureau in 1965 as a legislative aid. While working for Farm Bureau, he was responsible for helping develop the first computerized accounting program for farmers (Farmis), traveling all over Kansas promoting and educating farmers on this new system to greatly assist their complex accounting tasks. Following his time at Farm Bureau, Forrest worked at various sales jobs, often working long hours at multiple jobs, before finally landing at Sears in 1972.
Forrest's first wife, Miriam, passed away in 1966 following a long illness, leaving him to raise his three children by himself. As a single father working long hours to provide for his family, he supported them in every way he knew and was proud of the character his three children displayed.
In 1971, he married Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams, whom he had known from his time working at Farm Bureau. They were married in a simple ceremony on Sunday, December 19, 1971 just prior to his daughter Rebecca (Becky) getting married the following Friday, December 24, 1971.
Forrest and Julia bought a tiny, unwinterized cabin on Mill Cove at Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan in 1975 and spent many hours working on it before moving there in 1976. Forrest was a consummate woodworker and spent hours crafting cabinets and other intricate details for the house. Julia spent her post retirement years doing her share of the work making the cabin into a wonderful home at Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Working in his spare time, a few boards at a time, Forrest turned that tiny cabin into an impressive elegant two-story split-level home including a large sunroom/greenhouse, garage, and workshop. He also built a large separate classic-looking two-story barn.
Forrest and Julia helped his son David and wife build their new home in Topeka in 1987. Forrest and David did the duct work and Julia and Forrest added the eye-catching limestone accent siding to the front of the house.
The rest of his working years, Forrest worked as a home improvement salesman at the Sears store in Manhattan, helping people update and remodel their kitchens until he retired from full-time work in 1987. Following retirement, he remained active installing garage door openers and various other home improvement items. He finally retired from that line of work in 2007 due to his advancing age and his wife Julia's health needs.
Forrest was a man of faith and became involved with Sedalia Community Church where he served as a trustee, Irish tenor in the church choir, and general handyman for many years. When the church wanted to build an annex, he became the unofficial construction foreman, going by every night after work and leaving notes for the construction crew. They would arrive in the morning to find those notes scribbled on sheetrock, 2x4's or whatever else was handy. He made sure things were done right.
Julia passed away in 2008, leaving Forrest to live by himself until 2012. Becky and Tim returned from living in China and moved in with him in his Tuttle Creek home until they could find a home of their own. It was at this time that Forrest developed some health issues. One was a thyroid problem but the major one was colon cancer. He had surgery in January 2013 and following recovery, began to live with Becky and Tim in Manhattan. While he recovered physically from the surgery and never had any other signs of cancer, the impact of the thyroid problem, age, and the surgery led to a slow cognitive decline.
Forrest moved with Becky and Tim to Oklahoma in September 2019 and continued living there with them for a couple of years before he moved to Homestead Senior Living Center in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he enjoyed good care from the caring and friendly staff there.
On August 31, 2023, he celebrated his 100th birthday with many family and friends attending his party.
Forrest was preceded in death by his first wife, Miriam Haury Adams; second wife, Julia (Campbell) Blasing Adams; his parents, Grover Franklin and Anna Elizabeth Adams; three brothers, Glenn Adams; Wayne Adams; Russell Adams; sister, Mabel Riggs; step-daughter, Margene Blasing Moss; and step granddaughter, Debra Todd.
Survivors include his son, David (Christine) Adams, Topeka, KS, son, Steve (Sue) Adams, North Richland Hills, Texas; daughter, Rebecca "Becky" Adams (Tim) McDonald, Clinton, Oklahoma; step-son, Robert Blasing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; step-daughter, Patricia (Chuck) Krushinsky, Peyton, Colorado; 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces; nephews; great nieces; and great nephews.
Funeral service at Sedalia Community Church, Manhattan, KS. Burial, with military honors, in the Sedalia Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Sedalia Community Church for a memorial garden bench for the church or to the Alzheimer's Association. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, Manhattan, KS.
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