KATHERINE ELAINE (EWING) FORRESTER
Katherine Elaine (Ewing) Forrester, 79, of Memphis, Missouri, died February 25, 2026, at her home.
She was born September 29, 1946, in Keokuk, Iowa, the oldest of two children born to Clark Baldwin and Katherine Madeline (Monroe) Ewing.
Elaine attended elementary school (grades 1-3) at South Liberty Grade School, a country school north of Rutledge. When South Liberty Grade School closed, she attended grades 4-8 at Rutledge R-IV School in Rutledge. She was a 1964 graduate of Gorin High School in Gorin and a 1964 graduate of Gem City Business College in Quincy, where she served as president of the Theta Alpha Chi sorority.
She married Sterling Dean Forrester on December 5, 1964, at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Gorin, Missouri. He preceded her in death on May 4, 2018.
To this union were born two daughters: Angela Lee (Forrester) Westhoff and Alisa Renee (Forrester) Kigar. Elaine’s greatest joy was being Angela and Alisa’s mother. She often said, “Every day is Mother’s Day for me!”
The Forresters lived from 1964 until 2017 in Sterling’s childhood country home in the Edinburg community, south of Memphis. They moved into Sterling’s late parents’ home in Memphis in 2017.
As a young lady, she made a profession of faith and became a member of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Gorin. Following her marriage, she united with the First Christian Church in Memphis where she sang in the church choir, served as deaconess, Sunday School teacher, music leader, funeral meal director, Tuesday After School Kids (T.A.S.K.) snack lady and in many leadership capacities.
Following her marriage, she was employed in administrative support at the Orlo Harrison MFA Insurance Agency in Memphis. In 1976, she began employment at Keith’s Cafe in Memphis, where she worked for 32 years. She was also a school bus driver for the Rutledge and Scotland County School Districts for 44 years.
Elaine was a member of Rutledge Chapter #343, Order of the Eastern Star, for more than 60 years and served as Worthy Matron, District Deputy Grand Matron, and Grand Representative of South Dakota in Missouri. She served as Grand Martha for the Grand Chapter of the State of Missouri, Order of the Eastern Star, in 2018-2019.
At the time of her death, Elaine served as vice-president of the Rutledge School Restoration Society Board and devoted countless hours to hands-on labor and fundraising for the building’s preservation. She was among the dedicated board members who secured its placement on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its historical significance at the federal level.
Elaine also served as assistant chaplain of the Jauflione Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and as vice-president of the Scotland County Historical Society, which oversees the Downing & Boyer House Museum Complex, Depot and Pheasant Airplane in Memphis. She was respected regionally for her volunteer catering in support of a variety of philanthropic causes. She had a passion for recycling, historic preservation, and patriotism. In recognition of her service, she received the Rotary International Community Service Award in 2012, was inducted into the Missouri 4-H Hall of Fame in 2020, and she received the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Community Service Award in 2026.
In 2021, at the age of 75, she climbed and descended Diamond Head in Oahu, Hawaii, during the Scotland County High School Band trip to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor. She was so proud of this physical accomplishment that she asked her daughters to make sure this achievement was included in her obituary.
Elaine was a trained soprano and was invited to sing on many occasions throughout Northeast Missouri as a young vocalist. In more recent years, she enjoyed singing in ensembles and in a trio with her daughters.
She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; and in-laws, Herman and Florine Forrester.
She is survived by two daughters: Angela Westhoff, and her husband, Scott, of Kirksville and Alisa Kigar, and her husband, Jim, of Bible Grove; sister, Janet Lee (Ewing) Deaton, and her husband, Don, of Huntsville, AL; grandchildren: Megan Renee (Westhoff) Hamilton, and her husband, Kenneth, of Maryville, Missouri; Shelby Ann (Westhoff) Lemon, and her husband, Will, of LaPlata; Sergeant Eli Richard Kigar of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington (Active Duty U.S. Army); and Elsie Elaine Kigar of Bible Grove; six great-grandchildren: Harper Madelynn, Hinton Scott, Hatcher James, Holdyn Margaret, and Huett Paul Hamilton of Maryville and Gus William Hayes of LaPlata; and a bonus great-grandchild, Stetson Charles Lemon of LaPlata.
Funeral services were held March 2 at the Memphis First Christian Church with Shawn McAfee and Zachary Boushard officiating. Burial was in the Edinburg Cemetery in rural Scotland County.
Memorials may be made to the donor’s choice of Elaine’s many charitable interests: Memphis First Christian Church; Edinburg Church; Rutledge Chapter #343 Order of the Eastern Star; Jauflione Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution; Rutledge School Restoration Society; Scotland County 4-H; Memphis FFA; or Scotland County Historical Society.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Gerth Funeral Service in Memphis.
