Joan Forrest

1931 - 2019

Joan Forrest, nee Bockelman, 87 of Deerfield, IL passed away on February 10th. Joan was a 60-year resident of Deerfield, a prominent Deerfield Realtor for more than 45 years, beloved wife of long time Deerfield Mayor Bernard Forrest for 65 years and loving mother of 3 sons and grandmother of 11. She was a true original with her own uniquely direct communication style that brought her success in business and endeared her to the people she cared about most. Joan Forrest grew up in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. She graduated from Hirsch High School in Chicago and Indiana University. Joan & Bernie married in 1953 in California where Bernie was stationed in the Army at the time. Joan worked at Weiss Memorial Hospital and taught Jr. High in Skokie before moving to Deerfield and starting a family in 1959. Joan started in real estate in 1973 with Koenig & Strey. She loved her new profession and her business flourished. She rose to become Sr. Vice President and managed the large Deerfield office, before joining Coldwell Banker in 2009, where she continued to work up until her last days. She took great pride in her work and loved every aspect of her job as well as her many friends and colleagues in the business and community, including her fellow members of the Townley Women's Club. Through her active career, she always found time to attend countless games, meets and performances that her boys and later her grandchildren participated in. As an avid sports fan, especially basketball, she was a proud Bulls season ticket holder during the Michael Jordan era and a big Indiana Hoosiers fan. Joan and Bernie dedicated much of their lives to Deerfield and were active in all aspects of community life. They were true partners in everything they did including their careers, their community involvement in Deerfield and as parents and grandparents. They loved to entertain and to travel. They did their best to see the world and regularly visited some of their favorite spots including Carmel, Hawaii, Marco Island and Door County. Joan is survived by sons Kevin (Laura), Sean (Peggy) and Keith (Niki), grandchildren Colleen, Kathleen, Brian (Erin), Tara, Shannon, Patrick, Emily, Lauren and Julia Forrest and Connor and Jesse Holloway as well as her favorite nephew, Bill (Bobbi) Bockelman. A visitation will be held on Friday, February 22nd from 6-8:30pm at Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Rd. Highland Park. On Saturday, February 23rd there will be a visitation from 10am until the time of memorial service at 11am also at Kelley & Spalding. In lieu of flowers, donations in Joan's memory may be made to Orphans of the Storm and Cycle for Survival, providing research funding for rare cancers. http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/JoanForrestMemorial. For info or directions please contact Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home at 847-831-4260 or www.kelleyspaldingfuneralhome.com