Dennis passed away on Saturday, April 18th at Salem Hospital of complications of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) after a 10 year struggle with this disease.

 

He was born in Greeley, CO the son of Fred and Shirley (Bidwell) Forsyth. Later the family moved to El Paso, TX where he attended Austin High School. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1960.

 

In 1959 Dennis married Georgia Gardner. They had 3 children; Donna, Lori and Chuck. They later divorced.

 

Dennis had a 35 year career in radio broadcasting and loved every minute of it. He worked stations in Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Arizona and KYKN in Salem.

 

Dennis married Marilyn Dawson in 1990 and acquired an extended family. He loved them like his own.

 

He was an avid NASCAR fan. He enjoyed “Happy Hour” on the deck in the summer with a can of Coors Light. He especially loved trips in his motor home to a different destination every time and to go down a road he had never been on just to see what was there.

 

Dennis was a sweet and gentle man and never said an unkind word about anyone. He never forgot to say “I Love You”. He was always good natured and had the most wonderful sense of humor even towards the end.

 

He was a member of both Keizer and Salem Eagles.

 

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents and a brother Ian.

 

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; daughters, Donna Montelongo (Jaime) of El Paso, TX, Lori Chambers (Ken) of Chase, MI; son, Chuck (Anese) of Odessa, TX, sisters Mary Jo Mobbs (John) of Alamogordo, NM and Betsy Howell of El Paso. He is also survived by his extended family: Jeannine and Bryan Nelson, Julie Patch, Jim and Robin Patch. Grandchildren are Joey, Sarah, David, Elizabeth, Casey, Tricia, Wyatt, Derek, Dustin, Taylor and Chad and one great-grandchild on the way. He is also survived by his beloved dog, Sosha, several nieces, nephews and mother-in-law, Kay Holmes and brother-in-law, Rich Redel.

 

A memorial service will be 4:00PM on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service. A reception will follow. His ashes will be interred at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

 

Donations may be made in Dennis’ memory to the COPD Foundation, 2937 SW 27th Ave., Ste 302, Miami, FL 33133 or the Willamette Valley Humane Society.