A ONE ROOM SOD CABIN LOCATED IN CHINOOK, MONTANA (A SMALL TOWN ABOUT 20 TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF THE CANADIAN BORDER) WOULD BE DEXTER’S BIRTHPLACE AND HOME FOR THE FIRST 7 YEARS OF HIS LIFE. HIS FATHER, GEORGE, ALSO A FORMER ROTARIAN, HAD “GONE WEST” TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE DURING THE MONTANA HOMESTEAD YEARS. THERE HE MET DEXTER’S MOM, AMANDA, AND DEXTER, THEIR FIRST-BORN, WAS BORN ON OCTOBER 23, 1915. TWO OTHER SIBLINGS WOULD ALSO CALL CHINOOK THEIR HOME FOR A TIME, BUT ONLY DEXTER GOT TO RIDE A HORSE TO AND FROM SCHOOL; AND
HOMESTEADING IN MONTANA WAS NOT EASY AND DEXTER’S FATHER ULTIMATELY MADE THE DECISION TO LEAVE MONTANA AND MOVE BACK EAST WHERE HE WOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY BETTER. INITIALLY, DEXTER LIVED IN SPRINGFIELD AND THEN WHEN HIS DAD AND UNCLE COMPLETED BUILDING THEIR HOME, HE RESIDED IN MOUNTAINSIDE. HE WENT TO SCHOOL AND GRADUATED FROM THE WESTFIELD SCHOOL SYSTEM. HE HAD A LOVE OF MUSIC, WAS IN A BAND AT ONE POINT, AND EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING IT A CAREER. ALWAYS A TINKERER, HE WAS CONSTANTLY THINKING UP NEW INVENTIONS OR REDESIGNING OTHERS AND MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CREATION OF MOLDED PLASTICS BY COMING UP WITH A DESIGN THAT ELIMINATED THE SEAM THAT HAD BEEN UNAVOIDABLE IN THAT PROCESS; AND
DEXTER SERVED HIS COUNTRY DURING WORLD WAR TWO IN THE PHILIPPINES AS A STAFF SERGEANT. FRIENDS AND FELLOW SERVICEMEN WOULD RECOUNT HOW ALL HE TALKED ABOUT DURING THIS TIME WAS HIS DREAM TO RETURN TO THE STATES AND START A TOOL BUSINESS WITH HIS DAD. IN THE LATE 1940’S THAT DREAM BECAME A REALITY, WHEN DEXTER AND HIS FATHER STARTED FORCE MACHINERY OUT OF A CHICKEN COOP IN THE BACK OF THEIR MOUNTAINSIDE HOME. THEIR BUSINESS MODEL WAS SIMPLE, SELL CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY NEED AND BRING IT DIRECTLY TO THEM. THEY DID SO BY FILLING THEIR STATION WAGONS WITH TOOLS AND BUILDING EQUIPMENT AND DRIVING TO BUILDING SITES IN THE AREA. EVENTUALLY, THEY HAD BEEN ABLE TO PURCHASE LAND ON ROUTE 22 WEST IN UNION AND THEN IN THE EARLY FIFTIES, WERE ABLE TO BUILD A MODEST BUILDING; AND
DEXTER’S INITIAL CONTACT WITH ROTARY WOULD BE THROUGH HIS FATHER, GEORGE D. FORCE. GEORGE WAS A ROTARIAN FROM 1954 UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1971. DEXTER WAS ASKED TO PICK UP THE MANTEL AND HAS BEEN A MEMBER SINCE 1971 SERVING IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES INCLUDING PRESIDENT FROM 1979 THROUGH 1980. DURING THAT TIME HE HAS BUILT DEEP AND LASTING PERSONAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS. HE HAS ATTENDED MEETINGS AND MADE ROTARIAN FRIENDS ALL OVER THE WORLD DUE TO HIS EXTENSIVE TRAVEL FOR BOTH BUSINESS AND PLEASURE PURPOSES; AND
AN ADVENTURER AT HEART, DEXTER WAS A PRIVATE PILOT AND WAS ALSO AN AVID GOLFER. DEXTER WAS LUCKY ENOUGH IN LIFE TO FIND LOVE NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE. HE WAS MARRIED TO HIS WIFE, “RUTHIE” FOR 36 YEARS UNTIL HER DEATH. HE LATER MET GINNY, WHO WAS HIS LADY FRIEND AND COMPANION FOR 15 YEARS. DEXTER HAS 3 CHILDREN, 9 GRANDCHILDREN AND 3 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN AND STILL RESIDES AT HOME IN WESTFIELD; AND
A FRIEND TO ALL, TO THIS DAY, HE LIVES OUT THE 4-WAY TEST. NEVER ONE TO SPEAK UNKINDLY ABOUT ANYONE, HE IS DESCRIBED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AS ONE WHO ALWAYS HAS A GOOD WORD AND A GREAT BIG “HELLO” FOR EVERYONE. DEXTER WILL BE 100 YEARS OLD ON OCTOBER 23, 2015.