Obituary of Ivagene Florence Forrey

Ivagene Florence “Ivy” Forrey passed away March 9, 2023, in Olympia, Washington.  She was born August 15, 1999, to Robin Lee Forrey and Heather Joanna (Caino) Forrey in Lich, Germany. 

 

Ivy wasn’t just our daughter, or just a sister to her brothers. She was our friend. We often get comments on how close our family is, especially the mother/daughter bond. Even as an adult, Ivy chose to go on vacations with us (her parents) or on trips with her brothers and often paid her own way or treated us. On our last trip together, she paid for the airbnb and drove us.

 

She was a kind and considerate person with a passion for sticking up for the underdog. She marched to her own beat, even if it was difficult. She had a great sense of humor and was always trying to make people smile and laugh. Ivy loved to go dancing and taught Zumba with her mother from the time she was a teenager. She was stubborn and bossy but didn’t ask anyone to do anything more than she herself was doing. She loved animals and we got so silly about “wild” cows; she insisted they were like wild horses, just fluffy wild cows roaming docilely across the land. Ivy loved seeing what animals paraded through the yard overnight on the Ring camera.

 

Ivy always came home with love, a smile, an “I love you,” a joyful greeting even when having a bad day. She was driven and smart. She graduated Steilacoom High School and at same time got her Associate of Arts degree from Pierce College before her 18th birthday. She received a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies and a BA in Psychology from Central Washington University in 2019, and her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Purdue in 2021. She was looking to start on her Doctorate in Educational Administration in the next year because she wanted to be a principal.

 

Ivy always loved working with children. When she was in third and fourth grades, she would finish her classwork early and go assist with the special needs classroom at least a couple times a week while we lived in Missouri. She loved the kids she worked with at Child and Youth Services (CYS) on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which was what drove her desire to be a principal. It was during this time that she started saying she'd like children of her own someday, which wasn’t something she had said before.

 

From Ivy’s teenage years, you could see she was very emotionally mature and was often our conscience and our therapist. She helped both her parents through the loss of a parent each. She was passionate about women’s rights and spoke at the capital in Olympia while in high school in favor of Planned Parenthood.

 

Ivy was our rainbow baby. We had a few miscarriages and a fetal death after Zach and gave up hope of having more children. We decided we were done. Rob deployed and, when he came home a little over nine months later, there came our beautiful miracle, our rainbow baby Ivy. We were so blessed to have 23 years with the best person you would ever want to know. 

 

Ivy is survived by her parents, Rob and Heather; her brothers, Robin and Zach; and her very best friend, Dorian. She is also survived by her paternal grandmother, Sharon; maternal grandfather, Bob; maternal biological grandfather, Tom; her aunts, Susie, Whitney, Katie, Sophia, Tina, and Sarah; and her uncles, Bobby, Sal, Greg, Brian, and Kyle; and extended family. She is predeceased by her paternal grandfather, Ron; and her maternal grandmother, Nancy. 

 

We are devastated by the sudden and unexpected loss of our sweet girl. 

 

There will be a memorial service over ZOOM on Saturday, April 8, 2023, 1:00 p.m.  The meeting ID is 6898663878.

 

Ivy never specified any specific charities but, if you would like to make a memorial donation in her honor, please consider a charity that supports women’s rights or Planned Parenthood. 

 

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