James William Forrester passed away in his home in Renton, WA on July 21st, 2026 after a fierce battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. Jim is mourned and missed by his wife, Mary Forrester; his son Jim and wife Maggie Forrester; daughter Sarah Bright; grandchildren Michael Bright and wife Aila Lumsden-Bright and Fiona Bright; great grandson Evan Swanson; sisters Anne Loffredo and Linda Forrester, brothers Joel and wife Mary Forrester, and William and wife Sandra Gore, and nephews William Landolfi, Max Forrester, and Charlie Gore.
Jim was born September 26th, 1940, in New Kensington, PA to William and Thelma Forrester. He was a remarkable person from an early age, learning to play piano by listening to Anne’s lessons and then picking out the tunes himself. He began lessons at age 5. By age 9 he had composed a suite, entitled Sunday Morning. He began taking organ lessons, as well as violin. He continued composing and performing his own pieces, and worked out a deal with his school, in which he could practice on the school’s organ in exchange for always being available to play for assemblies or other events. This early talent, and that of his siblings, was encouraged and nourished by his parents, and formed the basis of a lifelong love of and deep connection to music.
Jim taught himself to read very early and was a precocious and voracious reader. He had the ability to stay at the top of his classes with minimal effort, rarely completing homework but regularly making the honor roll. In high school, he formed a friendship with three other brilliant and unusual students, calling themselves the “Lunatics”. One story he told about this circle was that they loved to go to the school library and check out a record entitled “Soviet Iron Foundry”, which they would listen to in the sound booth at top volume. This came to an end one day, when the Lunatics were informed by the long-suffering librarian that the Soviet Iron Foundry had mysteriously broken in two. Jim won a National Merit Scholarship and chose to attend St. Johns in Annapolis, MD.
After earning his liberal arts degree at St. Johns, Jim chose to attend Johns Hopkins in Baltimore MD, earning his PhD in Philosophy. He supported himself by being a stringer for the UPI, reporting on baseball games. He continued to play and compose music, constructing a harpsichord from a kit. It was in the PhD program that he met Mary, and was immediately struck by her formidable brain, and her beauty. Their first date was to see the movie Goldfinger, and the pair married on June 14th, 1965, after a whirlwind four-month courtship.
Jim and Mary moved to New York City, where Jim had landed a teaching position at Columbia. James Cassel Forrester (also known as Jim) was born on February 12th, 1967, followed by Sarah Whitfield Forrester on April 3rd, 1969. But the couple was hesitant to raise the kids in New York, and so in 1973 the family moved to Laramie, WY, where Jim was offered a tenure track professorship at the University of Wyoming. Jim taught all levels of philosophy, but specialized in the ancient Greeks and moral language. Mary also specialized in moral language, and Jim used to half-lament that they were the only ones working on their specialty west of the Mississippi. Jim and Mary welcomed colleagues and graduate students into their home, sharing holiday meals with friends who were often far from home, and throwing bridge parties featuring strong martinis. He served several turns as department chair, and always hated it. He had an enduring and positive effect on hundreds of students who learned how to think deeply and nimbly under his guidance.
Jim had a deep love of awful puns, and relished mixing them with philosophy (“Brother, can you paradigm?”). His sense of humor and sly wit were widely admired. He loved to cook, starting with blue cakes with green icing as a kid, and eventually becoming a skilled chef. He nurtured a similar love in Sarah, teaching her how to cook while fostering her natural tendency to argue over everything in wide-ranging discussions. This serves her well in her work as a union organizer and negotiator. Jim played the organ at St. Matthews Episcopal Church for many years.
Jim loved the West, taking his family to national parks like Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain National Park. The family hiked and camped, and took long road trips back East with stops at national parks, battlegrounds, and any other interesting or historical site that anyone wanted to see. Jim had an early interest in computers, buying a home computer in the early 80’s, and encouraging a similar interest in young Jim. This interest of young Jim’s became his career.
One major milestone was becoming a grandfather in 1989, when Michael was born to Sarah and Ryan Bright. Jim absolutely adored Michael from the first minute, and found every excuse to come visit. Sarah and Ryan had Fiona in 1996, and Jim fell head over heels. Jim and Mary visited the family many times each year, and were involved grandparents even from far away. They built college funds for the grandkids, spent as much time as they could in Seattle, and took the kids on trips.
Jim and Mary loved to travel. Even after Jim had a stroke in 2004 and had to retire, they continued to travel the world, going to Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Tahiti, the Greek Islands, and Scandinavia. As things became more difficult, they decided to move to the Seattle area to be near Jim and Sarah and their families. Being close together was a blessing for the whole family, as Jim became progressively more disabled from the effects of the stroke. Nevertheless, he remained sharp and connected to current events, becoming very engaged in and outraged by national politics. Mary and Jim continued to travel up until the pandemic, and Jim never gave up hope that he would be able to see New Zealand one more time.
Jim was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2026, and fought bravely, keeping his sense of humor and tendency to pun all the way through. He stayed optimistic and strong. His passing leaves a deep hole in the hearts of his family and the many people he touched throughout his life. He did not want a service, but asked that those who want to honor his memory give to the following organizations and candidates:
ACLU, NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Cancer Society, Save The Children, Covenant House, World Central Kitchen, James Talarico, Sherrod Brown, and Josh Turek.
