Birth date: Sep 3, 1947 Death date: May 7, 2019
Forrest Wilson McCollum, 71, Dallas, Texas passed away on May 7, 2019, in Dallas, Texas. He was born on September 3, 1947, to Glenn McCollum and Lois Lutrell McCollum in Oakland, California. He married Beverly Brooks McCollum on S Read Obituary
Woody and I worked together at Interfirst Bank Dallas in the late 70’s and early 80’s. He was really my favorite working associate there. He was highly intelligent and we had many enjoyable conversations over the years. Woody had a great sense of humor and I have thought of him many times over the years. I’m very sorry to learn of his passing.
I will always remember fondly of Woody, we worked together for so many years. He was funny, supportive, & knowledge about many things. I loved hearing his vacation stories!
Beverly, Leslie, Nathan and their families have our deepest sympathies over the loss of Woody as a wonderful husband, dad, and a grandad. More than 30 years ago, the McCollums moved into the house across the street from us with two small kids. In a sense, we grew up ourselves as neighbors, and it is from that standpoint, I’d like to make a couple observations about Woody I formed from watching him work in his yard. Based on 30 years of general observation, I can say that outside yard work was a chore Woody and Beverly usually tackled as a team. Beverly did all the mowing and Woody brought her water to drink on the very hottest of days. That of course is a small joke –they worked outside together as partners. That is, they did so until one day last summer when a professional yard crew appeared and began performing the job under Woody’ supervision. I understood why. The first time they took up this task, Woody looked across the street and in his droll way said to me: “Don’t Judge!”For each of these 30 years, Woody would always spend the day after Thanksgiving putting Christmas lights out along the sidewalk, climbing a ladder to reinstall a wreath outside a second story window, and hanging hundreds of lights on his front yard tree. It was almost a day long affair. With the precision and timing of a Swiss watch, this job would be tackled every year on that very same day. On the day after Thanksgiving 2018, I noticed Nathan’s help was finally enlisted, and I understood why.The sprinkler system in his yard was his loyal friend — until it was his worst enemy. He would hunt down broken heads, dig them out, and spend whatever time it took to replace them, whatever the weather, and however long it took. With Woody, the job as not “done” until it was done! ** * When you see the little things getting done right when no one is watching , day in and day out, year after year — your mental image of that person begins conjuring up descriptive words like “dedicated, self-motivated, committed, self-sufficient, determined, steady, reliable, etc.”; i.e., words that speak to that person’s essence, his character.Woody made a long career in finance and worked steadily until he recently retired at age 70. The strong personal attributes I recognized from watching him work in his yard for so many years, were no doubt carried over and put to work in other parts of his life as well. As Admiral William McRaven pointed out so compellingly in his great motivational speech “start with making your bed “, If the little things are taken care of, you know the big things are as well. I suspect Woody made his bed each morning.He was a good man and he will be missed by his friends and neighbors on Gatetrail!
Words cannot express how much Woody will be missed. He was one of a kind with a big heart. All of us who worked with him were blessed to have known him.
