Donald L. Forbeck M.D.

Donald L. Forbeck M.D., 93, of Great Falls, passed away on Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at Grandview’s Goodnow Cottage. A memorial celebration will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2017at the Grandview Goodnow Cottage, 3015 18th Avenue S. A private burial has taken place at Highland Cemetery. Dr. Forbeck was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on May 24, 1923. His father passed away when he was an infant and the family moved to Jamestown, New York, where he made his home base. After high school Don enrolled in college with the hopes of becoming a teacher. Because of World War II he decided to join the Army and found that there was a shortage of doctors and the Army put him through medical school. After being discharged from the Army, he continued his medical training at the University of Michigan and did a residency in neurology where he completed his M.D. in 1949 and became a specialist in Neurology. Don moved to Great Falls in 1955 where he and Elaine were married in 1956 and they were married 60 years. He had a private practice in Great Falls until his retirement in 1988. Dr. Forbeck had a life-long interest in photography and he pursued that interest with the Great Falls Camera Club and Photographic Society of America where he was quite successful in camera club contests and gradually accumulated enough acceptances in international salons to qualify for a Galaxy 6 rating in pictorial slides. He served as Zone Director for the Photographic Society in the Mountain Zone. He also did a fair amount of photographic judging and seminars. Don was a great pianist. He started playing in grade school and could turn his hands to music from any period and play with such compassion and talent. Playing classical music from Mozart to Beethoven and much more was just a fragment of what he could do with the music. “The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colors in your mind.” He is survived by his wife Elaine and Lea and Indy, the long-haired dachshunds. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Maclean Animal Adoption Center located at 900 25th Avenue NE, Great Falls, MT, 59404.