Ms. Marybelle Forein

Marybelle Forein passed away peacefully after a short illness with her daughters beside her on March 28, 2017. She was 99 years old. Marybelle was born in Hillsdale, Indiana on February 18, 1918, the second of four children and the only girl. She attended Indiana State Teachers College and married Lewis E. Forein of Ridge Farm, Illinois at Turkey Run State Park in 1939. Shortly thereafter Lewis enlisted in the Army Air Corp and they moved to Mountain Home, Idaho to the military base. Marybelle worked as a secretary for the flight surgeon during Lewis’s enlistment; following his honorable discharge after the war they moved to Portland, Oregon for a year and then Lewis was accepted into the accounting program at UCLA in Southern California so they made their final move to Santa Monica, California where they lived for over 60 years. During those years they traveled through most of the United States, Canada, and Europe. Marybelle was a superb seamstress and started sewing for her dolls when she was only five years old. She sewed her whole life and loved to make dresses for herself and her two daughters, Sylvia and Janita. In the 1980’s she enrolled in the Fine Art Institute of Los Angeles School of Fashion Design and studied fashion design for two years; upon graduation her design was awarded the highest honor granted by the school—the Gold Thimble. It was her proudest moment and her designs created quite a stir amongst the faculty of the school for her innovation, design and ability to create garments that were thought to be “impossible”, like her award winning coat made of one single piece of fabric, no seams! Marybelle moved to Morro Bay, CA in 2013 to be near her daughters; she lived in an assisted living facility in a lovely apartment and, true to form, seldom allowed anyone to “assist” her; she was always independent and determined to do things her way up until the very end. Marybelle was a kind and extremely generous person; she loved sewing, gardening, flowers of all kinds and her family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Sylvia Nancy Jackson Lohrman and Charles Walter Lohrman; and her three brothers, Leslie, Leo, and Forrest Lohrman. She is survived by her daughters, Sylvia Forein and Janita (Forein) Baker; her son-in-law, Robert Baker; her nieces, Carolyn Bishop, Sandy Neilsen, Pat Lohrman and Jeannie (Lohrman) Pinion; her nephew, Jim Lohrman; and numerous grand nieces and nephews. Marybelle’s family would especially like to thank her grandniece, Angela Bodkins for her kindness and expertise in helping with the funeral arrangements. Visitation will be from 11:30-12:30 Friday, April 14, at Giovanini Funeral Home, 408 Vine St., Clinton, IN 47842, followed by Graveside Services at Helt’s Prairie Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. Arrangements were entrusted to Brown-Butz-Diedring Funeral Service & Crematory, Anderson, IN. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to your favorite charity in Marybelle’s name.