Ramona Home Journal Section

Forrest Letzring

Sometimes You Can’t See Forrest for All the "FOTOS"

by Jim Evans

I pay very little regard...to what young people say on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they haven’t seen the right person (JOY) yet. — Jane Austen

Forrest Letzring is the original "Energizer Bunny" for the Ramona Rotary Club, according to longtime friend and Rotary President Ken Dower.

"If there is something going on, Forrest has his cameras strapped on, his accessory bag and tripod in hand, always ready to capture that Kodak moment on film or digital, still or moving," Dower said.

"Some say Forrest has a 50,000-square-foot underground security bunker hidden somewhere in the Ramona hills where he has all the prints, negatives, and VCRs (tapes) he has ever taken, safely stored away."

Unquestionably one of Ramona’s finest and best-known photographers — including for this newspaper — Letzring worked more than 36 years for General Dynamics, where he photographed virtually ever kind of aircraft imaginable.

"It was the best job ever," Letzring said, "traveling all over the world, seeing all kinds of people and places."

Sometimes, his photographic adventures took him off the beaten path.

"I can remember snapping photographs of top-secret aircraft even before they were revealed to the public," Letzring said, "but I can remember following a herd of wild mustangs to their watering hole by helicopter in the back country of Utah, to I loved every minute of it."

Letzring, a 1953 graduate of Kearny Mesa High School, even takes his cameras to his class reunions — and more. According to the Kearny Komets ’53 News from their 50th anniversary last year: "The King, Elvis, even made an appearance and, much to our surprise, it turned out to be our own Forrest — dressed like the King in all his royal regalia, sideburns and all — who also videotaped all of our reunion events." (www.kearny53.com)

The only person to have been elected president of the Ramona Rotary twice — from 1973-74 and again from 1996-97 — Letzring has spent a lifetime giving to others.

"He is one of the biggest-hearted, kindest men I have ever known," said friend and fellow Rotarian Tandie Mitchell. "I’ve known Forrest for more than 14 years, and he is an absolutely tireless community worker. I can still remember when he used to bring his elderly mother to the Rotary luncheons. That shows even more the kind of guy he is!"

Letzring’s energy and seeming "multiplicity" are legendary in Ramona. Ken Dower knows why.

"Most people don’t know that Forrest is really one of a set of triplets," Dower said, joking. "You may think that it’s just the one Forrest that you see at an accident scene and the same Forrest at a graduation ceremony and the same Forrest at some other significant event in town, but it’s actually Forrest and his two triplet brothers covering the whole town. His parents liked their triplet babies so much, they named them all ‘Forrest,’ just like George Foreman, who named all his kids ‘George.’ "

Not only does Letzring appear to be here, there, and everywhere at the same time, he has an "expandable pickup truck," according to Dower, and "he has been known to carry 200 full-size American flags, 250 tables, 150 chairs, 75 signs, and six people in the bed of his mini-truck and still have room in the cab for his sweetheart, Joy, and enough camera and video-recording equipment to film the sequel to ‘War and Peace.’ "

At 69, Letzring appears to be just finding his second wind. He is planning to get married July 4 in Las Vegas to the "Joy" of his life — Joy Messingel.

"There aren’t many good excuses for him to miss the 4th of July Games for kids (in conjunction with the annual Rotary 4th of July Family Picnic and Fireworks)," quipped Chuck DeMund, who has known Letzring since the ’50s when they worked together at General Dynamics, "because Forrest has been co-chair of the event for as long as I can remember. But I guess we can let him off the hook this time!"

Dower said, "There are a few people in town who affectionately call Forrest by the name of ‘Forrest Gump,’ which may be appropriate if you remember the movie scene when Forrest Gump ran and ran and ran. That’s our Forrest!"

Like his namesake Gump, Forrest probably would agree, too, that "life is like a box of chocolates." Looks like he is about to take another sweet bite out of life July 4!

Congratulations to Forrest and Joy from all his friends at the Ramona Home Journal! And, congratulations and best wishes from all of his friends in Ramona who appreciate his selfless dedication to making life better for those around him, through his photographs and his many contributions to his community.