Royce Monroe "Plug" Forrester was born on March 11, 1930, on the farm his family rented southeast of Canute, Oklahoma. He was the third of four children Marie, Charles, Royce and Leland born to Riley M. Forrester and Lillie Belle Atchison Forrester. In 1933, the family moved to a farm on Route 66 and Turkey Creek east of Foss. After their house burned they moved across Highway 66, to a house you may recognize from its present-day red steel roof. On April 13, 1941, at age eleven, the family moved to the farm they proudly purchased northeast of Canute. And he chose to join the Canute Methodist Church. When he placed his birthday money into the offering plate this past March 13, he noted that he had been a member of the church longer than any other person.

Royce took over the farming when his father, Riley, died in 1951, and farmed until he was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve for two years. There he was trained as a helicopter mechanic and spent most of his service time at Ft. George G. Meade in Maryland. Hurricane Hazel tested the capabilities of his squadron.

Plug loved playing baseball in High School. His team, which almost was not allowed to play because they lacked uniforms, was beaten in the State Finals. Royce served five years on the Canute Board of Education.

He was a pioneer who worked with many oil companies in establishing oil and gas production in the Anadarko Basin. His introduction to pumping was the Spieker well north of Canute, the Number 1-10 Bill Green, southeast of Elk City and the 1-12, Marik, A GHK well, north of Canute. The Bertha Rogers well, south of Burns Flat, for Lone Star Producing, and drilled to 25,000 feet, was the deepest well to that date. At the bottom they found molton sulphur. GHK is Glover, Hefner, Kennedy headed by geologist Robert A. Hefner with whom Royce spent many hours speculating about the future of the Anadarko Basin. When son, Greg, was about nine years old and wanted to spend the day staking a well, and Royce thought it too cold for the boy to be outside, Hefner insisted, "Let him go. It will take generations to do this." Today Greg works for Kaiser-Francis Oil Company as a pumper.

With his wife, Maurine, they operated Forrester's Well Service. Royce was the outside man while Maurine was the inside woman, bookkeeper, dispatcher, etc.

Royce retired just 12 years ago at age 74. He continued to make daily rounds, driving his silver truck, to check the farms, the dogs, the wells.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Marie, brothers Charles and Leland, a niece, Kathy Cox.

He is survived by his wife of fifty-five years, Maurine, of the home, son Greg Forrester and his wife, Sharon, grandson Coty and Riley all of Elk City, granddaughter Ashley Forrester of Oklahoma City and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral Service

Monday, May 23, 2016
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Whinery-Savage Chapel
403 West Country Club
Elk City, Oklahoma 73644

A Keepsake Video is available through http://www.whineryfs.com