[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9893-S9894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                     TRIBUTE TO JOHN RIPLEY FORBES

 Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the memory 
of an extraordinary naturalist, conservationist, educator, father, and 
husband who devoted his life to sharing his love of nature with 
communities across the country. John Ripley Forbes lived in Georgia for 
over 30 years, and Georgians of all ages have been blessed by his 
delightful approach to nature, science, and learning.
  Mr. Forbes was born in Massachusetts in 1913. From a very early age, 
he was fascinated during nature walks with his father and knew that he 
wanted to study nature for the rest of his life. At the age of 14, he 
became the protege of his neighbor, famed naturalist William Temple 
Hornaday. While still in his teens, John Ripley Forbes guided visitors 
through his personal nature collection at the Bruce Museum of Arts and 
Sciences in Greenwich, CT. After studying zoology and ornithology for a 
time at Iowa State University and Bowdoin College, he worked as an 
ornithological collector on explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan's 1937 
expedition to Baffin Island. Fifty years later, in 1987, Bowdoin would 
award him an honorary doctorate degree.
  Mr. Forbes continually combined his knowledge and experience as a 
naturalist with his enthusiastic focus on children's education. After 
Hornaday's death, John established and presided over the William T. 
Hornaday Foundation to underwrite children's museums around the United 
States. The organization became one of John's legacies, the Natural 
Science for Youth Foundation. He also worked to build museums from 
Naples, FL, to Sacramento, CA. In each one, he created fascinating 
opportunities for children to experience nature whether through habitat 
trails, wildlife preserves, or even animal lending libraries, which 
allowed children to ``check out'' small animals for a few days at a 
time. During his years of work through the foundation and whenever 
opportunities arose, Mr. Forbes helped found and build a national 
network of over 200 children's museums and nature centers where, 
frequently, exhibits interact with visitors as much as the visitors 
interact with them.
  John Ripley Forbes was known for his ability to charm donations from 
even the most intimidating people. His wife explained, ``He would meet 
some of these people like the Rockefellers, and they were just 
enchanted with his enthusiasm to do the right thing.'' He used this 
charisma for more than contributions. Mr. Forbes served at military 
bases in Alabama and Tennessee during World War II and supported 
returned airmen through simple fishing trips or nature walks. In his 
spare time, he would work with established natural history museums to 
fill new children's museums with thousands of donated specimens.
  He also used his boundless energy and charm to preserve nature in its 
original form. Shortly after moving to Georgia in 1971, he became 
focused on the preservation of Atlanta's shrinking natural habitats. 
Mr. Forbes founded the Southeast Land Preservation Trust to shield 
green space from a rapidly growing real estate market and was 
determined to reason with developers and work out solutions that were 
mutually beneficial.
  John Ripley Forbes exercised his passion for education and 
preservation through these many projects, and our future generations 
will reap and enjoy the results. I am grateful to people like him who, 
with their enthusiasm and energy, make a difference in the community 
and in the lives of others. His legacy will live for many generations 
through the work and accomplishments he left behind.

[[Page S9894]]

  John Ripley Forbes is survived by his wife Margaret, his son Ernest 
Ripley Forbes of Alexandria, VA, his daughter Anne Forbes Spengler of 
Atlanta, and two grandchildren.
  I join with them and all Georgians in mourning his passing and 
remembering and appreciating the contribution he made to our 
communities, our State, and to the lives of the many people he 
touched.

                          ____________________