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PostHeaderIcon LEANDER “TED” FORNAS of AMHERST, MASS, June 18, 1925 – March 11, 2014

Amherst, Leander “Ted” Fornas, 88, passed away at the Center for Extended Care in Amherst on March 11, 2014.  He is survived by his daughters, Laura and Tina Fornas, and his grandchildren, Emily, Robin and Henrietta.

Ted was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, on June 18, 1925.  He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served as an interpreter with the 85th Mountain Infantry attached to the 10th Mountain Division.  After the war, he pursued his childhood dream of a career in illustration at the Pratt Institute in New York City.  Ted continued his studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, Switzerland, and at the Suomen Taideakatemian in Finland.  During his career, Ted’s work has been shown in major exhibitions in New York, Rome, Athens, Moscow, Goteborg and Sao Paulo.  Today his original prints are included in collections at The Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center in New York City, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and The Anteneum Art Museum in Finland, which lists eight of his graphic works in its permanent collection.

Ted married in 1954 and returned to Finland with his wife, Pirkko-Liisa, and two young daughters in 1960.  After divorcing in 1967, Ted returned to the United States, and his wife and daughters moved to Sweden.  This time the move was permanent for Ted, and he became a professor and head of the Art Department at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts. 

 In lieu of flowers, his family asks that those who wish to remember him make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association.  Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com

Service details, Social networking, Memorial Guestbook and Slideshow are available here.

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