Date of Birth:
Thursday, January 7, 1937
Date of Death:
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Age:
87 years old

LeRoy (Lee) John Forstie

LeRoy (Lee) J. Forstie Rochester

A memorial service will be held for Lee at 11:00a.m., Friday, June 7, 2024 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at a later date at Minnesota State Veteran Cemetery Preston, Minnesota. Lee had a good life; he was 87 when it ended on Sunday, April 21. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota on January 7, 1937 to parents John and Esther Forstie. Lee grew up In Duluth and Cloquet, Minnesota and in the country north of Cloquet. He graduated from Proctor High School.

Lee and Gail Mattson were married on November 23, 1957 beginning a lifetime blessed with love, three amazing children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Lee worked on farms, in a factory, on construction in addition to serving in the U.S. Navy where he was an electronics technician aboard a Destroyer Escort based out of Newport, Rhode Island.

Subsequent to Lee’s discharge from the service, the family moved to Roseville, Minnesota where Lee worked at Honeywell Inc. and attended the University of Minnesota. Upon graduation with an Electrical Engineering degree, the family moved to Oronoco, Minnesota near Lee’s employment with IBM in Rochester. He added a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree later. Lee retired after 26 years at IBM, the last year and a half being an international assignment in Rome, Italy.

Lee and Gail traveled extensively after retirement, primarily hiking adventures in the national parks of the great southwest or the mountains in Switzerland. Lee wrote extensively about their travels and other subjects of interest.

At home, Lee’s focus was first on family and second on service. Community service included the City Council, Board of Adjustment (city and county), 30 years as a volunteer fire fighter, Habitat for Humanity construction, and his church. As a person who grew up on a farm, and as an experienced technician and engineer, he could “fix things.”

Lee’s beloved wife Gail preceded him in death on November 23, 2023, on their 66^th wedding anniversary.

Survivors include daughter Lynn (Randy) Bluske of Rochester, MN; daughter Robin (Aldo) Sicoli of Eagan, and son Scott (Lori) Forstie of Rochester and grandchildren Jeff, Amy (Will), Brad, Matthew, Ben (Crissy), Zackary (Josie), and Eleanor, and great-grandchild Marco, and a brother Glenn.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Salvation Army.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com