Gladys Forrestal
By Ron Hayes
SOUTH PALM BEACH — Walking with her husband in Costco or Publix, strolling the streets, eating in restaurants, Gladys Forrestal was often approached by women smiling warmly.
“Gladys,” they asked, “is that you?”
They knew her from the Institute for Women’s Health & Body in Boynton Beach, an ob/gyn office where she worked as a medical assistant.
“Those women were former patients she had helped through a difficult pregnancy, eager to tell her about their kid,” remembers her husband, Zachary.
Mrs. Forrestal died July 29 after a seven-month battle with cancer. She was 49 and had lived in Palm Beach County since 2001 and South Palm Beach for the past three years.
Mrs. Forrestal was born in Peru and moved to this country when she was 3 and to Miami at 11.
After high school, where she excelled at tennis, she returned to Peru for a year, then returned to Miami to marry and raise three children.
She taught Bible study, coached Little League and practiced cheers. After her first marriage ended, she moved to Palm Beach County and sought a new career. She found a new life helping other women.
“I was going through her things the other day,” her husband recalled, “and I found some cards she had put in a file. They were thank-you cards from patients. She just touched so many people’s lives that way. She was just so thoughtful with everyone she met. She was one of the kindest souls you’d ever come across.”
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children, Jake Morris of Kansas City; Zack Morris of Greenacres; and Randee Morris of South Palm Beach; three grandchldren, Charlie, Wesley and Hailey; her mother, Carmen Pereira; a brother, Carlos Insua; and five nieces and nephews.
A memorial service was held Aug. 3 at Dorsey-E. Earl Smith Funeral Home in Lake Worth.
In lieu of flowers, her family asks that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
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