Donald "Don" Forrester

Loving husband, father and grandfather, our courageous hero died in his Albuquerque, NM home on Sunday, May 3, 2020 of cancer.

He was born in Iraan, TX on Wednesday, September 29, 1937 to Lillian and Jesse Forrester.  He was charming, witty, and humble.  He graduated high school with honors in Colorado City, TX.  He moved to Las Cruces, NM to attend A&M University (later named NMSU) at the urging of his sister, Francis, who lived there.  He joined Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and was elected President of his Sophomore class. To help pay for his education, he worked at White’s Auto Store and he also worked at Cactus Motor Co., where he learned to repair automobiles. This knowledge came in handy, as his then brother-in-law raced his Blue Goose hotrod on Saturday nights at the local speedway, and Don would help with repairs.  He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in EE in 1959.  He joined the Physical Science Laboratory located on the NMSU campus. His first assignment was to establish satellite tracking stations and manage co-op students all around the world.  In the fall of 1961, he met June and the following year, they married and traveled to Europe for three months, to continue his job of tracking satellites.  In 1966, he accepted employment with ACF Industries located in Albuquerque, NM.

During his employment with ACF, the family, with two children now, moved to Sierra Vista, AZ and Don worked at Fort Huachuca for three years on the Safeguard program. Others from the Albuquerque office also moved there, and the families became close friends. Don worked with three other major companies in Albuquerque after working at ACF.  He mainly worked on satellite testing, solar energy research and designing, and building simulators to test nuclear effects. In the mid 1990’s, Don was offered a job on Maui, HI, developing a 3.6m telescope to be built on top of Haleakala mountain. The function of the telescope was for deep space surveillance. A fellow employee stated, “Don’s group was doing cutting edge technology development, that is now part of the daily operations for the new Space Force. His approach to management was always as a teacher and mentor.” In 2004, Don retired as Director of Boeing, Maui. Not ready to completely retire, Don partnered with Pacific Defense Systems, as CFO until the company was sold in 2014.

Don enjoyed telling jokes and stories. He loved his family and was a mentor to his children, from teaching them to make pizza, to changing tires. He enjoyed remodeling and building homes. He loved sports, card games, reading and meals with friends & family. He enjoyed the beach and everything about Maui.

Don was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Francis Pennington and Doris Aldridge; and his baby son, Mark.  He is survived by his wife of 57 years, June; daughters, Dana Caruso and Cari Forrester; and his son, Donald Forrester. Also, surviving is son-in-law, Steve Caruso; and grandchildren, Donovan Caruso, and Ethan and Brayden Forrester. Don is also survived by his sister, Bea Forrester and her partner, Peggy Bell of Weatherford, TX.

A special thank you to Fr. Charles, Simplicity Home Care, Don’s wonderful caregivers, Lovelace Cancer Center, and Compassus Hospice. In lieu of flowers, if you care to donate in honor of Don, please donate to a local food bank or St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Reservation, PO Box 499, Saint Francis, SD 57572-9901. A Celebration of Life will be held for Don when we are able to gather.

Our hearts are grieving, and we miss you and love you. Until we meet again, “A Hui Ho”