Forrest, William

William Forrest, 93, of 10808 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, died Friday, July 2, 2010, at West Ridge Care Center, Cedar Rapids. Services: 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 5, at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cedar Rapids, by the Rev. Sonda Kirsteatter. Masonic rites by Crescent Lodge. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home. Burial: Fairfax Cemetery, Fairfax. Military honors will be provided by the American Legion.

Survivors include his four children, Jean Light, James (Betty) Forrest, Kathleen (Robert) Vanous and Karen (Herb) Friis; 17 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren.

William was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Marie Forrest in 2005; sisters, Mary Diehl and Kathleen Forrest; grandsons, Joseph H. Friis and Jon L. Friis; son-in-law, Dale E. Light; and parents, James and Annie (Wallace) Forrest.

Born July 19, 1916, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, William was the son of James and Annie (Wallace) Forrest. In 1935, he graduated from Grant High School in Cedar Rapids. On July 2, 1937, he was united in marriage to Marie Forrest. From 1943 to 1946, William served his country in the U.S. Army in France and Germany as an engineer, building a pipeline for fuel to the front during World War II. He was a member of Olivet Presbyterian Church, Masonic Crescent Lodge since 1947 and also belonged to the American Legion. For 27 years William was president of the Bricklayers Union in Cedar Rapids.

Memorials may be made in William's memory to the Atkins Fire Department.

Please sign the online guest book for William at under obituaries.