Dr. Richard A. Forney

Dr. Richard A. Forney
Dr. Richard A. Forney passed away on December 13th in Akron, Ohio, at the age of 98.
Richard A. Forney, M.D., was a native Boisean and received his elementary and secondary education in Boise. He attended the College of Idaho, Caldwell, in 1931 - 32 and subsequently attended the University of California at Berkeley and received the BA Degree in 1935. He graduated from the University of Chicago, Rush Medical College, with honors, receiving the MD Degree in 1939.
He interned at Ancker Hospital, St. Paul, and was a resident Fellow in Surgery at the Mayo Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, from 1941 to 1948 and was awarded a Master of Science Degree in Surgery by the University of Minnesota. He was a Fellow in cardiac surgery, Presbyterian Hospital, Chicago, 1953.
He was married to Margaret Eileen Magel (now deceased) of Twin Falls, Idaho on August 18th, 1941. They had four children.
He served during World War II as a Lt. Colonel in the Medical Corps as a Flight Surgeon with the U. S. Air Force, serving in Africa and Italy with the 15th Air Force, where he received the Air Medal and several campaign awards.
He entered the practice of general and thoracic surgery in Boise in 1948 and had held staff appointments at St. Luke's and St. Alphonsus hospitals in Boise. He served as a consultant in surgery at the U. S. Veterans Administration Hospital, the Malheur Memorial Hospital, Nyssa, Oregon, and the McCall Memorial Hospital, McCall, Idaho. He held honorary staff positions at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Baker, Oregon; Valley County Memorial Hospital, Cascade; and Council Community Hospital, Council.
He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, serving as a Director of the Boise Valley Chapter and as President of that Society in 1963. He was a Fellow in the International Society of Surgery (Brussels), the Royal Society of Medicine (England), and a member of the American Medical Association and the Idaho Medical Association. He was Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and of the Pan-Pacific Surgical Association. He was a volunteer lecturer in Surgery, Avicenna Hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan in 1973. He was a director of the Idaho Heart Association for several years and was President in 1959-60.
He was a member of the Boise Chamber of Commerce, serving as Director from 1945 to 1948. He was director of the Arid Club in 1960-61 and served as Chairman of the Board in 1965-67. He was a director of the United First Federal Savings and Loan Association in 1970s and 1980s. He has been a member of the Boise Rotary Club since 1948 and served as a director 1959-60 and was President in 1960-61. He was District Governor for Rotary International.
He spent his retired life traveling the world and was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a Big-Game hunter and has donated his vast collection of trophies to Zoo Boise, where, at one time he served on the Board. He had a great love for Idaho and had often said that, no matter where he went in the world, there was no better place to come home to.
He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Virginia Ballard Wojno-Forney, of Akron, Ohio. He and Virginia enjoyed their life traveling between their three homes; Boise, Idaho, Akron, Ohio and Kauai, Hawaii. Virginia loved travel as he did (they met in Czechoslovakia) and they enjoyed many trips together.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Samual Forney and Vera, his wife of 53 years, Margaret Magel, his son Franklin Magel Forney, and his brother Dr. William Forney.
He is survived by his daughter Janet Braley (Dr. Richard Braley) and two grandchildren Melanie and Kathleen Braley, his son Richard Wilcox Forney, his daughter Susan Stinson (Tom), his nephew, Drew Forney (Paula), and his niece, Lisa McMurray (Pat).
Donations can be made to Boise Rotary Foundation or Zoo Boise.