Forrest Schankman
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My family moved to University City in April 1955, so that I would have a good school to attend. I started
Kindergarten on September 12, 1955. That morning I met a lot of students. However, there was one who
I already knew---Forrest Schankman. See, Forrest and I lived across the street from each other on Roth
Avenue.
My family and Forrest’s family were about as close as two neighbors can be. I was friends with Forrest.
My brother was friends with Forrest’s brother Mark. My sister was friends with Forrest’s sister Linda
Jean. And my parents were friends with both of Forrest’s parents.
Forrest and I would walk to and from school together, as well as hang around together after school, on
weekends, during Summer Vacation etc. Forrest was an easy person to be friends with, because he was
a nice person, an interesting person to talk with, and shared a variety of my interests.
During the Summer, Forrest, his brother Mark, my brother, and I would play sports together in Heman
Park, go to the movies together, play miniature golf, spend evenings in my back yard looking through
my telescope wondering what was really on those other planets in our Solar System, and take bike
hikes. “Bike hikes” was a term that Forrest coined, which referred to us getting on our bicycles and
taking long rides, often with no specific destination in mind.
It was one evening in July 1975, when my mother got a telephone call from Forrest’s mother informing
her of Forrest’s death. That was a very sad week for my family, who all liked Forrest. Even to this day I
still occasionally run into Forrest’s brother Mark at the library or the bowling alley. It is still difficult for us
to talk about Forrest’s death at such a young age. But we can console each other with many good
memories.
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My family moved to University City in April 1955, so that I would have a good school to attend. I started
Kindergarten on September 12, 1955. That morning I met a lot of students. However, there was one who I
already knew---Forrest Schankman. See, Forrest and I lived across the street from each other on Roth
Avenue.
My family and Forrest’s family were about as close as two neighbors can be. I was friends with Forrest.
My brother was friends with Forrest’s brother Mark. My sister was friends with Forrest’s sister Linda Jean.
And my parents were friends with both of Forrest’s parents.
Forrest and I would walk to and from school together, as well as hang around together after school, on
weekends, during Summer Vacation etc. Forrest was an easy person to be friends with, because he was
a nice person, an interesting person to talk with, and shared a variety of my interests.
During the Summer, Forrest, his brother Mark, my brother, and I would play sports together in Heman
Park, go to the movies together, play miniature golf, spend evenings in my back yard looking through my
telescope wondering what was really on those other planets in our Solar System, and take bike hikes.
“Bike hikes” was a term that Forrest coined, which referred to us getting on our bicycles and taking long
rides, often with no specific destination in mind.
It was one evening in July 1975, when my mother got a telephone call from Forrest’s mother informing her
of Forrest’s death. That was a very sad week for my family, who all liked Forrest. Even to this day I still
occasionally run into Forrest’s brother Mark at the library or the bowling alley. It is still difficult for us to
talk about Forrest’s death at such a young age. But we can console each other with many good
memories.
- Wayne Rosenthal
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