Roll Call Tribute

Forrest Weldon Appleton, COL USA (Retired) 

June 28, 1936 - July 20, 2024 

Forrest Weldon Appleton, age 88, entered his eternal rest on July 20, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and children beside his bed. He was born on June 28, 1936, to parents Ruth Richards and Forrest Cecil Appleton in Big Spring, Texas and grew up on their dry-land West Texas cotton farm on the Vincent Route in Howard County. Weldon to some, and Forrest to others, he always answered to either.

Weldon was a proud first generation college student and Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of ‘58, graduating from Texas A&M with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Army. He met a young lady named Jeanette Peterson at her good friend’s wedding to his college roommate in Pasadena, Texas and they married April 18, 1959. His military career as an officer in the US Army Signal Corps was long and distinguished, with assignments all over including Vietnam, Thailand, behind the wall in West Berlin and all over the country. That chapter ended with his retirement in 1983 at the rank of Colonel.

After that career, Weldon rediscovered joy in the simple pleasures of working the earth. An avid gardener, he pried rocks out of the ground and learned stone masonry to build and tend a huge vegetable garden and beautiful naturally landscaped yard in these rocky San Antonio soils. When his yard was established he went to work at Rainbow Gardens, reluctantly being promoted to store manager. Always growing his knowledge of plants, he became a certified Master Gardener and volunteered around Bexar County, including writing answers to people’s online questions, and helping with any number of questions about almost any plant long after he stopped working at the store. In his “spare” time, he served one term as Hollywood Park city councilman, and continued to travel to some of the places in the world he missed with his military assignments. He would proudly tell you that none of this could have happened without the support of his beloved Jeanette. This past spring they celebrated 65 years of marriage.

Weldon will be deeply missed but fondly remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend whose impact will endure through the lives he touched and the memories he created.

He is preceded in death by his parents Ruth and Forrest, and his sisters Roselle Coates and Margie Firenza. He is survived by his loving wife Jeanette Appleton; son Robert (Margaret) Appleton; daughter Joan Appleton; and grandchildren Kelsey and Caleb (Emily) Appleton.

The family will receive friends at 11:00 am on Monday August 5, 2024, at Porter Loring Mortuary North. Service at 12:00 pm. Interment to follow at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets Association or the charity of your choosing.