We are very sorry to hear that our South African cousin, Tony Forte, passed away just before Easter in Cape Town, only a few weeks after celebrating his 87th birthday. He was born in Teignmouth, the son of my uncle John Forte, from Mortale, Kelso and Brighton, and of Netta Kyle, his first wife, and he was the brother of the late Vincent, David and Margaret. Tony leaves behind three dearly loved sons and daughters-in-law, five grandchildren, several great grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces too. Our condolences go out to all of them in South Africa, New Zealand and Scotland.
It is one of my regrets that we, his Brighton and Bournemouth cousins, never met Tony but it has been a privilege to be in touch with him via the internet over the last ten years since we re-established contact with our South African family.
It is clear that he was a wonderfully caring, loving and compassionate man who enjoyed life and his family in particular. It is equally obvious just how much you all love each other as a family across all the generations, and this has to have been led by the great patriarch of the South African family that Tony was. As I said, I can’t say that I knew him at all, but through the power of social media and from our email communications, I at least was so very privileged to witness just a tiny part of the great love and respect that this wonderful man showed to others and I am proud to be able to call him my first cousin.
May he rest in peace.