Michael L Forrester

One day in the spring of 1993, Mike Forrester flew his rented Cessna 172 on a 225-mile flight from Anchorage to Homer, Alaska. With him was his new friend, Barbara Purrington. Out for a fun day trip to the shores of Kachemak Bay, they spotted an old bus in a parking lot bearing the message “Let the Adventure Begin” on the front, and they snapped a photo in front of it. As it turned out, this was the beginning of nearly 33 years of adventure in their lives together.

Michael L. Forrester (Mike) passed away the last full day of summer in September. He was 74 years old. He was born in Eugene, Oregon, to Max and Mary Forrester, joining his almost 12 year old brother, Bill, to complete the family. He attended Adams Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Junior High and South Eugene High Schools, where he made what would become life-long friends. Weekends and vacations were usually spent with his parents on their classic wooden boat that was moored in the Siuslaw River in Florence, Oregon, or on adventures with his Aunt Margaret hiking and camping with the Obsidians Hiking Group, or on a round-the-world cruise with her at age 12.

Mike had a curious and enquiring mind and he soaked up knowledge on many subjects that interested him. One interest from a young age was in having a career on the radio. As a student at South Eugene, he enrolled in a program that allowed him to take broadcasting classes at Lane Community College, which had a college radio station. By his senior year, he spent his afternoons on air at KRVM, and he was off and running.

In Oregon, he worked in Eugene at KZEL and KASH. From there he moved on to Pendleton, then to KAST in Astoria, followed by a stint in Portland. California came calling with jobs at KPAY in Chico and KSFX in San Francisco. In 1981, he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where he worked at stations that included KTNX, EAGLE 97 and KOOL 97.3.

In 1994, he moved to Seattle in order to be closer to his aging parents in Florence, Oregon. He worked in Seattle at KBSG and KJR, both on-air and in production. He also worked at The Research Group, doing music scheduling and pre- recorded programming for stations all over the country.

Another interest Mike had was general aviation. In Anchorage, he earned his Private Pilot license with VFR, Instrument and Instructor ratings for land. He and Barbara and a number of their friends enjoyed day trips flying around South Central Alaska, including fly-in fishing trips, sightseeing flights, expensive cheeseburgers, and tours over recently erupted volcanoes.

Mike had a life-long love of boating. One of the first things he wanted to do after moving to Seattle was to buy a boat. He had always admired Chris-Craft designs. In 1995, he settled on a classic wooden 1963 28’ Sea Skiff, which he named Floating Bear, from a story in Winnie the Pooh, a favorite childhood book. Mike and Barbara had more than 10 years of adventures on the Bear cruising Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands in Canada. While wooden boats are lovely, they do have a tendency to leak. On the Bear, water would run down the sides of the V-berth where they slept, soaking the cushions. Ever resourceful, Mike simply bought some retired diapers and duct-taped them to the sides of the boat where the water routinely flowed, then changed the boat’s diapers as needed! He learned while flying in Alaska that duct tape and bailing wire can fix almost anything.

In 2008, Floating Bear retired to Flathead Lake in Montana, and Mike and Barbara adopted a 1966 38-foot Chris-Craft Commander, an early fiberglass model, resulting in far fewer leaks. The boat was named Alyeska, an Aleut word from which the name Alaska is derived. They continued their boating adventures from Olympia in the south up through the Discovery Islands and Desolation Sound in Canada.

Through ownership of the boats, Mike and Barbara became involved in the Chris Craft Rendezvous of the PNW. This group of Chris Craft owners gathers annually for several days of activities and the swapping of stories and ideas. Some of the couple’s deepest friendships were formed in this group. In 2015, they also joined Queen City Yacht Club, extending their boating community and friendships even more.

Barbara began participating in full- and half-marathon walks in 2000 to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Mike liked to participate in this, too — as a spectator! He was the main cheerleader for Team Darcy and he would often be spotted along the side of the route waiting to give Barbara and other friends encouragement and engaging in yet another of his interests, photography.

As radio was among the first media outlets to be engulfed by dramatic change, and job opportunities became scarce, Mike adapted. He had always had a talent for building things and did many of his own home and boat repairs and improvements. It seemed natural to extend this talent to friends and family who needed work done. Eventually he and a couple of his best friends, Doug Billman and Jack Feger, expanded into home repairs and remodeling. Mike had his own company for a number of years called The Hammering Man. When he retired that company, he did maintenance management for Coast Property Management at several of their properties.

When Mike wasn’t working on the never-ending boat and house fixes, he often connected with friends, some from as far back as his childhood neighborhood and his days at Adams and Woodrow Wilson, and reconnecting with many at South Eugene reunions.

“I don't know anybody who didn’t like Mike,” Barbara said. He loved hearing people’s stories and keeping up with their current lives.

Now Barbara is hearing some about him. “It's fun to hear people's stories and things that they never told you at the time,” she said. “I never knew that people realized how much we cared for each other.”  Both had experienced marriages that didn’t work out. They thought the best thing for both of them was to just stay together as long as they were having fun. “Well, we were still having fun,” she said. Nearly 33 years after they first met, “We were still having adventures.”

Mike Forrester died peacefully at home with Barbara, as he wished, on September 21, 2025, after a more than 3-year battle with a rare cancer (GIST), during which he simply just kept carrying on and living life. He would wish to thank all his doctors, nurses, patient care techs and staff at Virginia Mason and Harborview (UW Medicine) in Seattle and OHSU in Portland for their kindness and care.

He is survived by: Barbara Purrington, of Seattle, his partner for more than three decades and his best friend forever; his son, Jay D. Forrester, wife Helene, and two grandchildren, Samantha and Alexander, all of Sacramento, Calif., and his brother William D. Forrester, of Seattle, as well as by so, so many friends who loved him and appreciated his sometimes corny and sometimes slightly warped sense of humor and his kind heart.

Mike requested no services, but there are plans in the works for one or more Celebrations of Life in the future with far-flung friends. Leave a message here if you wish to get details as available.

If anyone wishes to make a donation in memory of Mike Forrester, donations may be made to the San Juan Preservation Trust, dedicated to the preservation and care of land and ecosystems in the San Juan Islands of Washington.