It is with fondness and an appreciation of a life well lived that the UMHEF community remembers Board of Trustee member Bob Forrest, who passed away on Thursday, September 15, 2022.

Bob had served as a United Methodist Higher Education Foundation trustee since 2017. As his obituary states, “Bob loved the Lord and the United Methodist Church.” During his time with the foundation, Bob passionately supported United Methodist students seeking higher education. With particular interest in students within his home state of Georgia, Bob and his wife Martha have advocated tirelessly to raise funds and awareness through the Martha Forrest Scholarship Fund. The lives of many students have been impacted in countless ways through his work, for which we are profoundly grateful.

The prayers of the UMHEF staff, Board of Trustees, and community go out to Martha and the family during this difficult time.

At the family’s request, gifts may be given in Bob’s memory to the Martha Forrest Scholarship Fund below.

One UMHEF Donor Supports African Students with Endowment Fund

In Martha Rowlett’s book Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life, she wrote in the introduction, once done with most books they can be shelved or passed on, “but this book wants to hang around and be used. It would like to be a friendly companion to help you connect with God about the living of your life as you weave your personal life tapestry.”

That also describes Dr. Rowlett. If you’ve had the opportunity to spend time with her, you want to keep her around. Dr. Rowlett and her late husband, Dr. Robert Arnott established an endowed scholarship through the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. While working at Claremont School of Theology, Dr. Arnott visited Africa for a conference where he bonded with Bishop Lawi Imathiu and was inspired to establish an endowment that would provide scholarships for students from Africa attending United Methodist schools in the United States or Africa.

Over the past few years, Martha has so enjoyed receiving updates and letters of thanks from the students that she decided to gift a portion of her estate plan while she is still alive. Students like Fernando Domingos have benefitted from this gift. From Angola, Fernando is a member of Redentor United Methodist Church in the West Angola Annual Conference and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Africa University. With assistance from the Martha G. Rowlett and Robert J. Arnott Scholarship Endowment, Fernando is now working toward his Master of Divinity at Drew University with a focus in this area.

It is Martha’s goal to be able to see even more impact, but she claims that she is “simply following in their direction. This was Bob and Bishop Lawi’s dream and I know that they would’ve been happy to see this happen.”

If you are interested in establishing an endowed scholarship, or if you would like to support a current fund, please contact the UMHEF Development Officer, Melissa Houck by email or call (615) 649-3970.