Roger Daniel Forman

Roger Daniel Forman passed away peacefully on March 14, 2026, after a years-long struggle with Alzheimer’s. Born on November 6, 1949, in New Rochelle, New York, Roger graduated from the University of Michigan before attending Antioch Law School, where he prepared to help others and make what he called “good trouble.” He spent his life doing exactly that.

After law school, Roger moved to Iowa, first working for Legal Aid in Des Moines, where he successfully represented hundreds of low-income residents in a challenge to property tax increases. He then opened and managed the first Legal Services office in Sioux City. While in Iowa, he met the love of his life, Arla Ralston. They married in December 1980 and settled in Charleston, West Virginia, where Roger worked for District 17 of the United Mine Workers of America, advocating for coal miners and those suffering from Black Lung. He remained a proud lifetime member of the UMWA.

In 1984, Roger entered private practice and continued fighting for workers’ rights for more than three decades. He provided pro bono representation for the ACLU in cases involving the First Amendment, LGBT rights, and reproductive freedom. In 2004, he brought a case seeking recognition of gay marriage under the West Virginia Constitution, eleven years before the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision. In 2012, he moved his life and practice to Pocahontas County, where he kept representing coal miners and championing workers’ causes.

Roger was deeply engaged in his community, serving on the boards of Temple Israel, the ACLU at both state and national levels, the Legal Aid Society of Charleston, the WV-ACLU, and the Covenant House. His service earned him the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship, the Sid Bell Award, the West Virginia Human Rights Commission Award, and recognition from Legal Aid of West Virginia.

He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Arla Ralston; his children, Cyrus and Isaac (Kate) Forman; his grandchildren, Nora and Vera; his brother, William (Christine Jones) Forman; his sister, Nancy Forman; and two nieces and one nephew. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Evelyn Forman.