Forrest Jenkins

Forrest Jenkins will be remembered as a quiet man who enjoyed learning. He lived his life with old-fashioned values but kept up with the modern ways of technology. His character, wisdom and knowledge made him a role model and a patriarch within his family. 1919 was a unique year in American History. The country was still reminded of WWI as President Wilson was negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and helping form the League of Nations. The great influenza epidemic of 1918 that killed a half a million people in the United States was still on everyone’s mind and boxing, baseball and horse racing dominated the sports scene. It was on St. Patrick’s Day of 1919 that Forrest Wayne Jenkins was born Forrest was born in Sherwood Michigan on March 17th, 1919, the second child of Francis and Goldie (Terhune) Jenkins. His father moved the family from Branch County to Kalamazoo County when Forrest was a small boy and his father eventually bought a farm in Scotts in 1932. This was no small accomplishment since the great depression was upon the country and the dollar had lost value. Forrest was given many responsibilities on the farm, which meant that his day consisted of mainly school and farm chores. This left very little time for socializing or extra school activities. His father knew the importance of education, and when many young men were leaving school to make their way in the world, Forrest was encouraged to remain in school and earn his diploma. He graduated from Scotts High School in 1937 and though he never got to fulfill his dream of attending Michigan State, he was a life long learner. He was constantly reading and was well versed in many subjects and enjoyed sharing his knowledge with his family. The 1937 graduating class from Scotts consisted of only 11 graduates. Out of the 11 graduates, 4 became couples. One couple was Forrest and Marian. They never dated in high school, but one month after graduation, on June 25th, they had their first date. After a 3- year courtship they were married on November 15, 1940, the opening day of deer hunting season. This was the last time that Forrest went deer hunting for he always claimed that on his wedding day, he got his dear. With the country still pulling itself out of the depression, money was tight and Forrest took a job working on a farm for a dollar a day. The young couple would move 5 times in their first two years of their 62 year marriage, each time for a better job and opportunity. Forrest was a hard worker that would go the extra mile to make sure that his family was well cared for. Though he made his living as a machinist for 30 years at Eaton in Battle Creek, his real passion was farming. He would work the farm in the morning and then put in a full shift at the factory. Even with the long hours of the two jobs, he was a very dependable employee at Eaton and never missed a day of work and it would be unimaginable to be late. His family has always been the most important thing to Forrest. Though he worked many hours, his 3 daughters always knew that he would be there for them. Because of his love of learning, he stressed education and made it possible for all of them to attend college. Later in life he would enjoy the company of his grandchildren and he and Marian would not hesitate to take them on one of their many motor home adventures across the country. He was looking forward to his first great grandchild that is due to be born in June of 2003. Because he stressed family life, he and Marian moved to Buchanan in 1992 to be closer to their daughter Ruth Ann and her family. Though their two other daughters live on the west coast, they still stayed in close contact with them through trips, phone calls and e-mail. Forrest was a walking encyclopedia of history. Coupled with his age, one may get the impression that he was always living in the past, but this was far from the truth. He stayed up with technology and on his 80th birthday received his first computer. He would spend hours surfing the web learning about all kinds of new and wonderful things. He banked on line and even had a laptop! He had never been afraid of challenges and he wasn’t going to let age slow him down. The simple things in life always seem to bring the most amount of pleasures. Traveling throughout 48 states, Canada and Mexico with Marian and the family brought great joy to Forrest. Capturing the beauty of sunset with his camera, fishing on a lake, listening to blue grass or a polka or watching a storm from his living room window brought a sense of peace and comfort that could only be captured by one’s inner soul. His smile and good sense of humor brought reassurance to those that loved him. He will be remembered as a shy person who would root for the underdog. Because of his love of history, it was only fitting that he collected antiques and studied Genealogy. Most of his antique collection was acquired from other relatives and friends and his prize antique was a one-piece wooden scoop shovel that is 200 years old. He also enjoyed the many hours researching his family roots back several generations. Forrest died on TuesdayMay 6, 2003, at his home in Buchanan. He follows in death his brothers Ralph and Russ Jenkins. His family includes his wife, 3 daughters: Ruth Ann and her husband Wayne Writer of Buchanan, Mary Ellen and her husband Jeromee Liebenberg of San Jose CA, and Nancy and her husband Jay Gelose of Indianola WA. His 4 grandchildren: Wade and his wife Betsy of Adrian, MI, Ben of San Jose, CA, W. Jared of Adrian, MI, and Jackie of Indianola, WA, a sister Dorothy Goldsmith and her husband Wallace of Coldwater, 2 sister-in-laws: Lucille Mack of Climax and Beverlee Jenkins of Scotts also survive His family will greet friends from 12 noon until 2 pm on Saturday at the Rupert, Durham, Marshall and Gren Funeral Home, Vicksburg Chapel where his Celebration of Life Service will be held 2 pm. To read Forrest’s life story, share a memory, make a memorial contributions to a charity of your choice or to order flowers, please visit his personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com.