‘He really loved this place’: Coaldale man laid to rest

Alan Forrester died while checking on his daughter during the recent flood. His wife of 22 years reveals what happened that night, along with Alan’s love for his family, dog and for Coaldale.

A week on from Alan Forrester’s death, his wife Glenys has revealed what happened on the night of March 25.

During intense rain Alan, 72, went to investigate a crossing on the property as his daughter had stopped on the other side of it in her car.

Not being able to see if their daughter was bogged or not they decided one of them would go down to see if she was okay.

“We’d worked out if she was okay he’d come home and if she was bogged he would flash his lights and I would go down too,” Mrs Forrester said.

But twenty minutes later their daughter arrived home with a neighbour but Mr Forrester didn’t.

The family are adamant he would never have tried to cross flood waters and are trying to put the pieces together of that night while they wait for the Coroner’s Report.

“We think he’s somehow slipped and fallen in.

“We think we know where he went in and because of the heavy rainstorm it had washed more of the bank away than we thought and with the water being higher,” Mrs Forrester said.

Alan Forrester tragically lost his life in floodwaters in Coaldale NSW.Photo Lachlan Thompson / Daily Examiner

Shared history-shared lives

Mrs Forrester, Alan’s wife of 22 years, described Alan as a quiet man, who loved his children and his fur baby Cleopatra who was rarely not by his side.

The pair met on April Fool’s Day in 2000 at the Mayfield Waratah RSL Club.

“After our first official date it was rare for us to have been apart,” Mrs Forrester said.

They discovered they both came from military families and they both shared early entry into the military.

Alan had signed up for the army after school and Glenys had joined the army reserve at 17.

A quiet man who loved the country life

Mr Forrester loved his small community of Coaldale so much that he joked he would have to be taken out in a pine box.

Such was his love for Coaldale, a regional community that helped to heal the Vietnam Veteran who suffered from post traumatic stress.

The pair moved to Coaldale 12 years ago where they enjoyed attending many social functions together.

“For people like Alan these communities are so important for their health and wellbeing,” Alan’s wife Glenys Forrester said.

“It has been truly a godsend for these small communities and there are people out here with similar social reluctance who find the social gatherings important to them and help them get out.”

Alan’s funeral was held on Friday, April 8 at 2pm at See Park, Grafton.