Rita Jean (Splain) Forrest, age 89, passed away peacefully on Friday March 20, 2020 at home in Overland Park, Kansas.  Catholic services will be held at Porter Funeral Home in Lenexa, Kansas on March 23, 2020.  Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Lenexa, Kansas. Due to the extraordinary circumstances of the global coronavirus pandemic, memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date at St. Michaels the Archangel in Leawood, Kansas where Rita was a devoted member of the parish.  

Rita was born on March 30, 1930 in Walnut, Illinois. She graduated from Newman Central Catholic High School in 1948 located in Sterling, Illinois.  She worked as a teenager in the quintessential drug store soda shop and had many of the experiences and adventures of small town life.  She had an affinity and natural talent for all sports.  Her favorites being golf, baseball and basketball.  She was a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Saint Louis Cardinals and the Kansas Jayhawks. She loved sweets and kept her candy drawer stocked for those who called her Grammie.  She attended Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado and studied to be a dietitian.  She was married in 1956 in Walnut, Illinois at Saint John the Evangelist’s Catholic Church.  She began raising her family in Princeton, Illinois where they attended Saint Louis Catholic Church and School.  She and her family eventually moved to Overland Park, Kansas, residing there for the last 46 years.  She had six children, eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  She was a beautiful person and had a natural acceptance and love toward all, especially children, who responded in kind.  She will always be in our hearts and her faith, humility and love are her lasting legacy.    

She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years Elmer K. Forrest, her daughter Mary E. Forrest, her sister Marilyn Splain Burke and her parents Eugene A. and Helen E. Splain.  She is survived by her children Jane K. Morriss (Larry), Colleen A. Flanigan (Joe), Susan E. Manke (Greg), Jill M. Forrest, and  John Timothy Forrest (Katy) as well as her 11 grandchildren Megan Morriss, Andrew Morriss, Katherine Morriss, Keegan Flanigan (Rose), Elizabeth Flanigan, Molly Flanigan Bryan (Sean), Cara Manke Swenson (Jay), Amanda Manke, Krista Manke Ezell (Luke), John Forrest, Ryan Forrest and her 5 great grand-children Austin Ezell, Ethan Ezell, Alice Swenson, Laura Bryan and Evelyn Bryan.