Forrest Cramp

Forrest P. Cramp, 96, died January 26, 2018 at the Highlands in Wyomissing, PA. A lifelong resident of Berks County, he was the son of Arthur and Mary Cramp and was born April 10, 1921 on the family farm in Scarletts Mills PA, in the historic White Bear Inn. Forrest grew up with four siblings, Arthur, deceased 1933, Connard, deceased 1994, Lloyd deceased 1998 and Grace, a fellow Highlands resident, who survives him. After his 1939 Reading High School graduation, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a wood pattern maker at Reading Pattern.
Forrest was drafted into the Army in 1944 and served in the Philippines where he received a combat rifleman badge, and in occupied Japan. He was among the first US occupation soldiers to land in Japan where he visited the destroyed city of Hiroshima before it was placed off limits because of high radiation levels. Honorably discharged in November 1946, Forrest benefited from the GI Bill, earning a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Pennsylvania State University. He applied his degree to a long and varied business career that included corporate and entrepreneurial endeavors. He was an insurance broker and financial advisor for Connecticut General, general manager of Aluminum Alloys, owner and proprietor of the Berkshire Cut Rate and developer of multiple real estate projects, as a founding partner in Birchmont Realty, along with his brother, Lloyd. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church, Shillington
He married Arlene Stitzer in 1946, who after 51 years of marriage, passed in 1997. They raised a family of six: James, husband of Carolyn, Bryan, TX; Louise, wife of Ray Kase, Wyomissing; John, husband of Lori, Stevensville, MD; Joan Ross, Costa Rica; Judy Coe, widow of Randy Coyle, Wyomissing, and Jane Cramp, Ft. Myers, FL. Known as Pop-Pop by his 11 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren, he will be long remembered for the many wooden furniture pieces, duck decoys and toys he crafted for them. Forrest was an avid outdoorsman, most at home in the field or stream hunting or fishing with his friends. His life-long passion was watching sporting events, particularly football. He attended countless Penn State, Wyomissing High School, Franklin and Marshall College and Johns Hopkins University games and enjoyed celebrating their victories with family.
Services will be at the convenience of the family in Bean Funeral Home, 129 East Lancaster Avenue, Shillington. Burial will be in Birdsboro Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.beanfuneralhomes.com