GREENFIELD — To some, Willett “Bill” Forbes was a longtime business owner; to others, he was a politician, an activist or just a familiar face in the community.

To his family, though, Forbes, who died Sunday at age 92, was first and foremost an adoring husband to his late wife Mary, and someone who loved being a dad. In their 71 years of marriage, the couple raised 14 children, five of whom they adopted. At times, they also served as foster parents. The longtime Greenfield couple always “found room” in their home, said Forbes’ daughter, Patricia “Patty” Deren.

“Of all the roles, aside from being married to my mom, he loved being our dad,” she said.

Deren said Forbes, a former selectman, was an early riser, always up to make breakfast before sending the kids to school.

“I’ve been saying to all my siblings that one of my favorite quotes of my father’s is that there was never enough time in a day to do all the things he wanted to do,” she said. “He was an early-morning riser and lived life to the fullest.”

Forbes, who was born and raised in Greenfield and attended Greenfield High School, loved spending time outdoors, organizing annual hiking trips to Mount Monadnock. He also loved taking his family boating on the Connecticut River.

“One of my favorite stories is from when he was little,” Deren recounted. From the time he was 10 years old, he would mow lawns for a quarter and when he had $10, he would ride his bike … over to the Turners Falls airport and wait for a pilot to take him up for a half-hour ride.”

That experience, Deren said, began Forbes’ lifelong fascination with airplanes. He later became a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. While stationed in Washington D.C., he was an aerial photographer.

For Jeff Forbes, Deren’s elder brother, his father will be remembered as a practical joker. He recalled a time when he enrolled in karate, so his father asked him to break a piece of wood he’d found in the yard.

“It was petrified,” he said, not knowing it at the time. “He set me up for that one. … That’s his personality that he instilled in me — a practical joker.”

Forbes said he doesn’t know how his parents raised 14 children, but they always managed.

“He was the best,” he said. “I’m glad I had him as my dad.”

In addition to owning a camera shop on Main Street, Forbes served as a member of the former Greenfield Selectboard prior to the shift to city government, as well as a member of the now-defunct Franklin County Commissioners. He was also a longtime member of the Greenfield Democratic Committee.

“He loved being a selectman,” Deren said, recalling how much fun she and her siblings had at his campaign parades. “Tom Merrigan and Jerry Levitch, that was his favorite [board].”

City resident Al Norman, a longtime friend of Forbes, recalled the Greenfield businessman and politician as a great conversationalist, one who never began a conversation without first asking how Norman’s family was doing. Their wives, he added, once served on the same School Committee.

“Bill was one of those people who always saw the sunshine,” he recalled. “He’d get discouraged but then a minute later he’d be talking about something that excites him or he was optimistic about.”

Though they became friends through interactions at Forbes’ Camera Shop, Norman said they often bonded over local politics. In 1993, Norman said, Forbes was among the small business owners who spoke out against the proposed Walmart. He was also an advocate for social justice and “the only guy” Norman knew who’d had a Black Lives Matter T-shirt made for his dog. He also gave Norman a T-shirt.

“We were allies in the same battle over 30 years, and I think he was always with me on those issues, big and small,” Norman said. “He had such integrity and a great outlook.”

Deren said in recent years, particularly since her mother died last summer, she and her siblings have had the opportunity to get to know their father on a much more personal level. He was “a fast mover” all his life, she said, but moving to Westford to live with Deren offered him the chance to slow down a bit.

“The conversations we were able to have — by we, I mean all my family — meant the world to my father, and he felt very loved,” she said. “This was really nice. He couldn’t believe how much we loved him and it was mutual.”

Calling hours will be held Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Kostanski Funeral Home, 220 Federal St. in Greenfield.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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