A much-loved police officer of 21 years has died suddenly in her husband's arms while enjoying a holiday. Julie-Anne Forkasiewicz was 53 years old.
Julie had type two diabetes, which impacted her life, and she had been dealing with deteriorating health for the past five years. However, her cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
She was on holiday in Cumbria with husband of 29 years, Peter, who told LancsLive: “She’d be the first to break the ice in a room full of people and she had such an infectious smile and a great sense of humour. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for me and it was never too much trouble.”
Julie grew up in Accrington and Peter described her as a friendly and genuine person, who made friends with people quickly. The holiday had been planned three weeks prior and Julie was healthy enough to travel, but when the family arrived at the hotel she said she did not feel well and decided to have a nap while Peter, Julie’s father Trevor and Julie’s sister Gillian went out for a meal.
Peter wanted to check how Julie was and returned to their hotel room where she was lying down on a settee drained of energy. The couple watched some of Glastonbury festival on television until they both fell asleep.
At around 2.30am she woke Peter and told him she felt really hot, but her body was cold. Julie progressively began to burn up and her breathing got more shallow, so Peter rang an ambulance before performing 15 minutes of CPR after her condition worsened further.
An ambulance arrived at 4.30am and at 5.20am she was pronounced dead. Julie was employed as a barmaid at The Warners Arms pub on Warner Street, worked in a petrol station, and made components for cars in a factory before joining the police force, mainly serving on a firearms unit for the Ministry of Defence.
She was awarded with top marks for the 300m long range target practice during her police training. In 2012 she retired from her policing duties, which were based in Chorley and near Harrogate, and took pleasure in visiting family and friends.
Peter and his wife enjoyed several trips abroad together, including a cruise to America, as well as visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and a cruise to the Gulf of Mexico. The couple, who lived in Clitheroe, enjoyed shopping trips in Carlisle, long walks together and also went mountain biking in different parts of the country, including Cumbria, Wales and Northumberland.
Julie was a great cook and loved traditional wholesome foods, her favourite being steak and sweet potato. The keen gym-goer was a member of Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa where she liked to relax and workout and swim.
She spent a lot of time at home in Waddington, Clitheroe, with her husband and enjoyed watching old soap programmes such as Coronation Street. She was a great friend to many people in Accrington, who would stop her in the street to say hello and will be dearly missed by them, her husband and her father Trevor, brother Mark and sisters Gillian, Rachel and Jennifer.
The funeral will be held on Tuesday, July 12 at St Hubert's Church, Great Harwood, followed by burial at Accrington Cemetery.
