Forrest Weatherton

Forrest Weatherton, age 99 of Austin, Texas went to be with his Lord on March 17th 2019, surrounded by his loved ones. Forrest was born July 31, 1919 on the family farm, located in Logan County Arkansas. Forrest is predeceased in death by his parents, Minnie & Elisha Weatherton and his 9 brothers & sisters, Eala Dee, Willie May, Etta, Ralph , Christine, Bob, Ruth, JT, and Monroe. He was preceded in death by his two favorite women who shared his long life. Erma Faye Weatherton was the loving mother of Forrest’s 3 children and his wife of 61 yrs; Erma passed away in 2000. While on a blind date in 2002, Forrest met his new love, Jessie B. Shelby, beginning the next chapter of his life. They were married for 13 years.

Forrest served in the Army in WWII. At age 99 he attended Austin’s 56th Honor Flight which departed with 12 WWII veterans bound for Washington D.C. The flight was dedicated as a special Pearl Harbor commemoration flight. While in D.C. Forrest participated in the annual Pearl Harbor Day event at the WWII Memorial, as well as a special visit to the White House. He was accompanied by his son Tom, a Vietnam veteran.

In 1947, after getting out of the service, he went to work as a sales representative for Olive Myers Spalti in Orange Texas. He was transferred to Houston and promoted to Sales Manager for the company. Forrest packed up his family for a life changing move to Austin in 1957, going into business with Bill Drake at Austin Industries. He later purchased Colony Arts, the furniture manufacturing division of Austin Industries, with sales in seven states. Larry, Tom and Judy, all worked alongside their Dad during the company’s successful times. For each of the children this period in life would be their foundation for successful careers in sales and leadership.

The family established their roots by building their family home in Tarrytown, the heart of Austin. He was a member of the Austin Country Club for 55 years, where he made many lifelong friends. Regular rounds of golf, card games in the 19th hole and monthly poker games became a cherished way of life. No doubt his ‘buddies’ have welcomed him back to the most heavenly of golf courses, followed by never ending card games.

Forrest was a man of many talents. First and foremost, he was an entrepreneur whose passion in life was to always have a project. Mechanic, carpenter, woodworker, mason and many more skills came naturally. For almost 100 years these skills and talents provided for his family and served as his drive to live a long and fruitful life.

His family and friends knew him best as a caregiver. He was the one who looked over his polio stricken brother, he lent his talents to make life better for his niece who was born with cerebral palsy, gave strength and provided special care and comfort to both Erma and Jessie B during their most difficult times. These are just a few examples of how he bettered the life of many.

Forrest is survived by his three children, Larry (Jan) Weatherton, Tom (RJ) Weatherton and Judy (Jared) Moss. Also surviving Paw Paw are his Grandchildren Robert, Laurie, Jay, Stacy, Alissa, and Michael plus 12 Great Grand Children, Bryant, Nick, Daniel, Amy, Emily, Bradley, Kaden, Evan, Max, Miles, Walker and Winnie.

Rest in peace Dad. You made it a great life!!

The family wishes to thank the many special caregivers from Brookdale Northwest Hills who gave Forrest such comfort during his last few years. You always made him smile!

Flowers may be sent to Weed-Corley-Fish or please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org.

Services will be held Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., Weed-Corley-Fish. 3125 N. Lamar Blvd.

Austin, TX 78705. 512-452-8811