Obituary of Forrest Gale Balliet

Forrest Gale Balliet, 85, of Whiting, formerly of Hamilton, NJ, passed away suddenly on May 21, 2020 with his wife at his side. Forrest was born in Bowmanstown, PA, and grew up in Adreas, PA. He attended a one room schoolhouse until high school. Forrest attended Lehighton High School in Lehighton, PA before attending DeVry University at which he studied Computer Programming and Electronics. He was self-employed for 30 years as "HEATCO", an industrial boiler room service. He used this programming knowledge to create his own business programming forms on "The Radio Shack TRS 80, Model 1.” This was truly the beginning of the computer age, and he had to get in at the beginning. After closing his business, he later worked as Supervisor Maintenance at Bristol Township School District, from which he retired in 1997. Forrest was an accomplished musician, able to play piano, clarinet, saxophone and electric keyboard. He was most proficient on and loved the keyboard, because he could mix sounds at will. After moving to Whiting in 2000 he used his skills to entertain others. He formed his own group "The Stardusters" which included Forrest on the keyboard and two singers. They performed by request throughout the Whiting Senior Villages. He thoroughly enjoyed making musical CD's which he gave freely to friends and family. He loved his dessert, especially ice cream and pretzels. In his younger days he enjoyed camping, traveling, archery, sail boating and working on his Pocono home on Lake Wallenpaupack. He loved spending time at this home and looked forward to fun times there with friends and family who loved it as much as he did. Making wind chimes and Beanie Baby Hotels became hobbies for him after retirement, as he had many orders to fill. He loved telling the story of his UFO sighting in Andreas, arguing politics and immigration were favorite pastimes. He was constantly complaining of phone scammers. He overcame that challenge by changing phone service. As a direct descendent of a Revolutionary War hero, he became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution as well as the NRA and NFAA. He was predeceased by his parents, sister, Madeline, brother, Clare, sister, Darlene, son, Richard, son, Craig and grandson, Michael. He is survived by wife, Jean, son, Barry (Marge), son, David (Karen), step-daughters, Pam (John), Patricia (Bill) and the mother of his children, Marguerite. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and one special cousin, Shirley Koch. Forrest was a sweet, gentle, loving man who was kind to all and well respected and cared for by all who knew him. Visitation will be Tuesday, May 26th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on a limited basis at the Manchester Memorial Funeral Home, with internment at Whiting Memorial Park at 1:30pm. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Forrest's name to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.