Gerri Ellen Forbes

Geraldine "Gerri" Forbes, 70, of Aurora, Colorado, "Flew West" peacefully at her home on December 15, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 33 years, LeRoy Forbes; stepchildren, Lora, LeRoy Jr., and Barbara; 5 grandchildren; sister Barbara Vanhoutte of San Antonio, Texas and 4 nieces and nephews.

The former Geraldine Mabee was born on March 4, 1945 in New Jersey, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bud and Hazel Mabee. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan and two years after graduating from high school Gerri began a life-long career involved with aviation and graduated from the United Airlines Stewardess Training Program. In her first few years with United she was based in Detroit before being transferred to Denver in 1969.

Although she enjoyed the life of a "Flight Stewardess" as they were known in those days, in 1980, she accepted a job as a secretary working for Aviation & Preventive Medicine Associates (APMA), owned by the late Dr. Richard Masters, the first Aeromedical Advisor for the Air Line Pilots Association. APMA provided medical consultation services to airline pilots. This position dovetailed nicely with her desire to help people and her knowledge of aviation and the workplace environment of airline pilots.

In 1983, she married LeRoy Forbes and they settled in Aurora. Among her many interests, Gerri was a voracious reader who was never far from a newspaper or favorite book. She was also quite active in the Denver Dumb Friends League and the Freedom Service Dogs Organization, which trains canines to help with severe physical disabilities. Gerri had a deep affection for all dogs - but a special place in her heart for Boxers; she and LeRoy adopted several Boxers over the years, including her beloved "Jake".

Upon Dr. Masters' retirement in 1994, Gerri assumed the position of Office Manager for Dr. Donald Hudson and Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (AMAS), the successor organization of APMA. She remained in that position until her own retirement in 2010. During her time with AMAS, in addition to overseeing all of the financial and administrative workings of the practice, she was also charged with administrative oversight of HIMS, the federally funded program to identify and treat professional pilots suffering from alcoholism and other substance abuse disorders.

Truly, for Geraldine Forbes, aviation and helping people were not merely interests but avocations. In both her professional and private life, Gerri had a positive and uplifting impact on literally thousands of people - she will be sorely missed.

"To fly West, my friend, is a flight we all must take for a final check." ~Author Unknown

A private memorial service will be held at 3:00 PM Monday, December 21 at Newcomer Funeral Home in Aurora.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Dumb Friends League of Denver, www.ddfl.org.

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