Robert Wright Forsyth Jr. ’41

Bob Forsyth died from pneumonia in Retreat Hospital in Richmond, Va., Aug. 12, 1996. He was a great-great-great grandson of Chief Justice John Marshall, and his father was a member of the Class of '08.

Born in Baltimore, Bob attended Phillips Exeter and majored in architecture at Princeton but withdrew early to join the Army Air Corps. He piloted an A20 and somehow survived 75 missions over North Africa and Italy which earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and other decorations. Classmates who know about war-time flying say that the A20, although called a light bomber, was used mostly for low-altitude strafing runs and "could be shot down with a rubber band and a paper clip." In fact enemy fire forced him to crash-land twice. Bob was a production planner with Philip Morris, retiring in 1984. He was a member of St. James Episcopal Church, Sons of the Revolution, the Torch Club, the English Speaking Union, and the Country Club of Virginia.

Survivors include his wife, Frances Bushnell Forsyth, sons Robert W. IV and John B., a sister, Mrs. Nathan Bushnell, and five grandchildren. To them all we extend our deep condolence.

The Class of 1941