Mexia Daily News - Jan. 9, 2004 edition

Mary Forke

TEAGUE - Funeral services for Miss Mary Louise Forke, 87, longtime Teague
resident, will be conducted Saturday morning at 11 o'clock in First United
Methodist Church. The Rev. Charles Jordan, pastor, will officiate. Burial will
be in Greenwood Cemetery, under direction of Ricks-Bowers Funeral Home.

Miss Forke, born April 3, 1916, in Cameron, moved to Teague in 1932 from
Greenville, with her parents and brother. Her parents opened the Forke's
Variety Store on Main Street, and in 1933 Louise graduated from Teague High
School and then attended T.S.C.W., where she received her Bachelor of Science
degree.

For her Master's of Education degree, Miss Forke attended the University of
Texas-Austin, Sam Houston State Teachers College-Huntsville, and the University
of Colorado. She retired from teaching in 1976, after 34 years as an educator.
She had a passion for teaching and loved her students.

Following retirement, her hobbies included playing bridge, painting, ceramics,
working crossword puzzles, and visiting with her friends.

Miss Forke was preceded in death by her parents, Otto Henry and Lauretta Beall
Forke; by a brother, Howard Beall Forke; and by a sister-in-law, Corin Neyland
Forke.

Surviving are cousins - Louise Bremer of Tyler, Nancy Bremer Dickey of
Magnolia, Mary Powell and Frances Bauknight of Greenville and Jack Beall of
Dallas; a nephew, Phil Stroud of Teague; a niece, Babs Cannon of Houston, and
numerous friends and students.

Memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church of Teague, or
to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, or to your favorite charity.

Visitation is scheduled for tonight from 6 until 8 o'clock at Ricks-Bowers
Funeral Home.

Thanks to the nurses and staff at Fairview Manor Nursing Home in Fairfield, and
to Dr. John Carlson, for their attention and care.