Richard Forslund

Richard “Dick” Forslund, of 14367 Evergreen Road, Rock, MI 49880, passed away at his home on Monday, July 20, 2020, surrounded by his family, after enduring Alzheimer’s for 5 years. Dick was born on June 8, 1947, to Harold and Esther Forslund. Dick graduated from Rapid River High School in 1966 and Northern Michigan University in 1971. He started his first teaching position in Suttons Bay, MI as the Building Trades instructor having the students build a house. While in Suttons Bay, life-long friendships were made. From there, he taught at North Central, then for the DSISD Building Trades. In 1976, he began teaching at Rock High School in Rock, which later consolidated with Perkins to become Mid-Peninsula High School, where he taught Math and Industrial Arts until his retirement in 2002.

While teaching, during the summers, he would do construction work building houses. After retiring from teaching he became a full-time contractor, running his own construction business, along with his son, Dean. Through the years, Forslund Construction, and their hard-working crew, has built countless number of homes in the area. He loved to work and took great pride in “a job well done”. He did this until Alzheimer’s took its toll on his ability to reason.

Dick enjoyed the outdoors and always looked forward to deer hunting season and deer camp. He used to be an avid fisherman enjoying their camp on the Escanaba River and fishing trips to Canada until the love of golf took over! He spent a lot time at the Gladstone Golf Course golfing with his friends.

Dick is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jackie; his son, Dean (Shelly) Forslund and grandson, Edward; sister, Christine (Warren) Groleau of Nahma; brother-in-law, Todd (Rita) Kaminen of Rock; several nieces and one nephew; and many special friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Esther Forslund; step-father, Joseph McGee; and father and mother-in-Law, Edward and Clara Kaminen.

Private family funeral services were held with Rev. Rell Spickerman as the officiant. A public visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, July 25, 2020 at the Anderson Funeral Home in Gladstone. The family would like to extend a special “Thank You” to Hospice and the kind and caring people who came to our home to care for Dick. And to Kathy Johnson for being such a help to all of us. 

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