Rev. Forest McClure Gale, Jr.

Durham – Forest Gale, age 85, died at Carolina Reserve in Durham, NC on January 10, 2026. He was born on March 20, 1940 to the late Forest M. Gale, Sr and Blanch Morrow Gale.

Forest grew up in Hickory, NC. He attended Wake Forest University and Mars Hill college before taking a hiatus from school to join the Military. He served in the US Army from 1963 to 1966, where he was stationed in Germany. After he was discharged from the Army, he came back to complete his education at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC with a BA in History. After graduation and brief stint working for Burroughs Corporation he was called to the ministry. He attended and received his Masters in Divinity and Masters in Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Forest always had a love for education and later in his career, closer to retirement, he enrolled at Gardner-Webb University where he pursued his Doctorate in Theology, which he could not complete due to ongoing health issues.

Forest faithfully pastored four separate churches over a period of 40 years inlcuding Maple Springs Baptist in Louisburg, Stovall Baptist, Edgemont Baptist, which later became Edgewood Baptist in Durham, and his longest tenure of 21 years was at Lowe’s Grove Baptist in Durham. During his years in Durham, he served a short period of time in quality achievement at Nello L. Teer Corporation. During his ministerial years at Lowe’s Grove, after he retired, and even up until his dementia got the better of him and he just couldn’t do it anymore, he worked with Hall Wynne Funeral home. Working at Hall Wynne brought him such joy that it could almost be considered a hobby.

Forest, in his younger years, was an avid runner. More than anything, he enjoyed reading. There was never a time where he was not reading one or two books. There were not many topics he did not like reading about. He loved to read books about perspectives he did not necessarily agree with because he liked to understand other people’s thought process and their point of view. Another passion he had was for animals. Forest could be found most any time sitting in his backyard under his favorite tree with his dog by his side, most likely after he had spent several hours doing yard work, which he did every single Saturday. Forest loved baseball. He would often talk about his favorite teams and players of the old Brooklyn Dodgers. In Durham, he was always excited to go watch the Durham Bulls. He was a true baseball fan as he did not want to be bothered by getting up to get a drink or a hot dog. He wanted to sit there and really watch the game. In the early 90s, he was even an extra for the movie Bull Durham. Once his only son Lewis came along, he was always excited to go shoot baskets, throw the football, or the thing that both Lewis and his dad cherished most, which was going up to a local municipal baseball field and working on ground balls and fly balls. Even after dementia had kicked in substantially, Jackie and Forest would ride by the old field, though detartrated, and Forest would always point out, “that’s where Lewis and I used to hit balls.” Another thing Forest really enjoyed, as many people can attest was a good Bojangles biscuit. As faithful as he was in his ministry, he was also faithful to the local Bojangles which he had breakfast and/or lunch each Friday and Saturday. Forest went so much that even attended the funeral of the manager of this location. He truly made friends everywhere he went, and he had some great friends at Bojangles. Of all these things, he was equally excited about and joyful, especially when he had dementia, to get in the car and ride around Durham, Raleigh, Stovall, or anywhere with Jackie. He loved to be out of the house, in the sunshine, and “check things out.”

Organizations that Forest served included the Durham Minister’s Association, which he served as President for a few years. His volunteer work included being a Chaplain at Durham Regional Hospital, where he received Chaplain of the year. Forest also volunteered his time with Hospice care. In 1995 he received the Yates Association Minister of the year award and in 2013 he received the Durham Jaycees award for Senior Citizen of the Year for his contributions serving others.

Forest is survived by his loving wife of 44 years Jackie, son Lewis, daughter-in-law, Ashley, grandchildren Presson McClure and Libby; his brother Tommy, sister-in-law Judy; step siblings Tom Wells and Hilda Howerton; two nephews Charles and Brooks; one niece Emily. In addition to his parents, Forest was preceded in death by his step mother, Ann Wells Gale, brother John Bruce Gale; nephew Grant.

A funeral service will be held at Lowe’s Grove Baptist Church in Durham, NC on Thursday, January 15 at 2:00 in the afternoon. A visitation will precede the service at 1:00. After the service, burial will be held at Maplewood Cemetery in Durham.

Flowers are acceptable and may be sent to Hall Wynne Funeral Home. Donations may be made to either of Forest’s favorite charities which were St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Animal Protection Society of Durham.

The Gale family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service. Online condolences: www.hallwynne.com – select obituaries.