Mary Louise (Johnson) Forbes, native of Fayette and long-time resident, died at the age of 99 on November 20, 2016, at the Fayette Caring Center.

 Mary Louise, born February 27, 1917, in Howard County, grew up on a farm several miles southeast of Fayette with her parents (Ruth and Denny T. Johnson) and two younger brothers, Howard and Charles. Her father was a farmer and held the office of Howard County Treasurer for 24 years. Her grandfather, Talton Johnson, was the Howard County bridge and roads commissioner for many years.

 Mary Louise graduated from Dudgeon School and later graduated from Fayette High School as valedictorian. In 1939, she graduated from Central College (Central Methodist University), earning her bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in math.

 After graduation, Mary Louise started her teaching career in north Howard County at the one-room Bawker School. She later became principal at Cairo, Missouri.

Mary Louise met her future husband during a one-room rural Jackson School function. She got engaged to Charles T. “Ted“ Forbes and both moved to the St. Louis area during WWII to start working at Weldon Spring at the TNT plant. Mary Louise excelled in the chemistry lab where she eventually became supervisor, while Ted, with his chemistry degree from Central College, served as production supervisor of the entire TNT-making process. She married Ted on November 15, 1942, at Linn Memorial Methodist Church in Fayette.

After the war, Ted and Mary Louise moved to Joliet, Illinois because of job opportunities. Ted taught junior high science in Joliet, and started an annual city-wide science competition for junior high school students. Mary Louise taught nearby at Valley View School in Romeoville, IL as a junior high math teacher, eventually becoming  chairman of the math department. A population explosion led to her school innovating a new format to become the first year-round school in the nation.

Both Mary Louise and Ted continued to tutor students after retirement, until 1988, when they moved back to Fayette to be closer to their many relatives, childhood friends, and family farm. Ted died in 1990.

Mary Louise excelled at many creative outlets throughout her life, including cooking, crocheting, quilting, writing, music, and painting. Her culinary skills were rewarded by ribbons in a city-wide cooking contest in Joliet as well as blue ribbons at the Howard County Fair. She enjoyed writing and published over forty articles, most of them children's stories, which were published in Missouri Farmer Magazine. She began painting acrylic landscapes in her 50s. Many friends and relatives have enjoyed her gifts of paintings. At 90 years old, her art was featured in a gallery show at the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art at Central Methodist University. After Mary Louise became wheelchair-dependent due to severe arthritis, she explored her love of country music by writing music lyrics.

Coming from humble rural beginnings, Mary Louise and Ted felt throughout their lives that education was the path to improving one's life. Central Methodist University recently started an annual “Mary Louise and Ted Forbes Math and Science Competition” for junior high students, and named it to honor them. This honor reflects their high regard for the value of education.

In later years, Mary Louise explored her family genealogy by writing letters to relatives and others all over the U.S. This led to the writing of her unpublished autobiography, and the penning of many family stories. She joined the Howard County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution after discovering family patriots.

Mary Louise and Ted are survived by four daughters. The eldest, Peggy Forbes, became a librarian and later a computer specialist; Linda (Bob) Marshall became an  acupuncturist, chiropractor, and certified clinical nutritionist. Her third child, Shirley (Joseph) Michelotti, became a neurologist, and her youngest, Sylvia Forbes, became a botanist and freelance writer. Mary Louise has three Michelotti grandsons: Carlo, a carpenter; Mark, an engineer who works on engine efficiency; and Christopher, a project manager for a large corporation.

A funeral service will be held on Monday, November 28, at 10 a.m. at the Carr-Yager Funeral Home in Fayette, with visitation 30 minutes prior.  Burial will follow services at the Fayette City Cemetery.

After the burial, the family invites those attending the service to return to the funeral home for a reception and refreshments.

Memorials are suggested to the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art, Friends of the Howard County Library, or Central Methodist University Math/Science Competition Fund.

Condolences and tributes may be shared at www.carryager.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Carr-Yager Funeral Home, Fayette, Missouri.

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