Charles Joseph Forster

Charles Joseph Forster, 76, died at home in Sleepy Eye on Dec. 11, 2022.

“Chuck” Forster was a Vietnam War veteran and lifelong member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. He worked for the city for 31 years, including time as weed and plumbing inspector in the 1970s. If you lived in town and didn’t know him by name, you knew him by his dark gray pickup. He drove a lot – and slowly. The better to spot trash to salvage or code violations to complain about.

Chuck dispersed his generosity quietly and his opinions loudly. The latter he shared freely at City Council meetings, from his driver’s seat while critiquing work crews, with friends over coffee – lately at Hardee’s – and in the back pew at St. Mary’s. He rarely encountered a local, national or world problem that he didn’t know how to fix.

Chuck was better at fixing what other people threw away. His basement was filled with discarded furniture that he repaired and restored into gallery-quality pieces. He liked to give away his work.

Chuck never forgot a birthday for his late brother’s children or their children. His living room was filled with photos of them and their notes and birthday cards. He greatly enjoyed learning new games from his great-nephews and great-nieces.

Chuck was born June 4, 1946, in Sleepy Eye to Raymond and Hildegard (Seidl) Forster. He never married. He was drafted at 19 after graduating from St. Mary’s High School and served as a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Division in Vietnam. He returned home with malaria and later served in the National Guard. In 2022 he enjoyed watching the progress of bringing a 1965 Huey helicopter to Sleepy Eye’s Veteran’s Park. He rode one like it many times in the war.

Chuck is survived by his sister-in-law, Charlene “Chuckie” Forster; nephew Dan and his wife, Andi, and their children, Kenna and Jack; niece, Sarah, and her husband, Charles Lee, and their children, Charles and Maximus; and nephew David and his wife, Samarah, and their children, Austin, Savannah, Ethel and Florence. Chuck was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Gilbert.

In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to the Sleepy Eye Servicemen’s Club.