Richard F. Forbes

September 1, 1922 - November 21, 2018

Mechanicsville, VA – CDR Richard (Dick) Forbes passed away on November 21st, 2018 at the age of 96. Born on September 1, 1922 in Charlottesville, he moved to Richmond in 1932 and graduated from Glen Allen High School in 1939. Richard went on to attend Randolph Macon College from 1939-41, enlisting in the US Navy in 1942, and attending Navy pre-flight training at University of North Carolina, where he earned his Naval Aviator Wings. Richard was deployed to the Pacific Theater flying Patrol Bombers and saw combat in such eventful battles as Iwo Jima and Eniwetok. Richard returned to the Pacific atoll of Eniwetok in 1952 aboard the USS Curtis, where he was the Security Officer for Operation Ivy, the first US test of a Hydrogen Bomb. After the Korean Conflict, Richard served as a flight instructor at the US Naval Academy, Commander of the 5th Fleet Early Warning Squadron, and then the Commanding Officer of Naval Recruiting based in Alexandria, VA. Richard retired from the US Navy in 1965, joining Eastern Airlines, where he later retired in 1989 as the head of Flight Operations. Richard had two great loves in his life, Frances Davis and Susan Lindsay. He has four children with his first wife, Frances: Karen VanKirk, Sandra Stanley, Kathryn Rudasill, and Richard (Rick) Forbes, Jr. After Frances’ passing, Richard later married Susan Lindsay Prince, adopting her daughter, Laura Prince Armstrong, and later adding one more son, David Forbes, to the family. At 96 years old, it is no surprise that Richard was the last man standing among his siblings, Kathryn, Rosser, Alan, William, and Elizabeth. In addition to his wife and six children, Richard is survived by 14 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Richard’s desire was to not have any sort of visitation or funeral, but a simple scattering of his ashes in his beloved Blue Ridge Mountains. In lieu of flowers, Richard requested that donations be made to the Cheryl H. Watson Memorial Clinic at Shady Grove United Methodist Church. 8209 Shady Grove Rd., Mechanicsville, VA 23111, http://www.shadygroveumc.org/.