Carol R. Forbes of Winona Lake, Ind., passed into the presence of her Lord at 9:16 p.m. on Monday, August 28, 2017, at Parkview Hospital Randallia of Ft. Wayne, Ind., at the age of 81 after a 4 ½ year battle with breast cancer.
She was born on July 13, 1936 in Painesville, Ohio, to Elizabeth (Sabo) and Fred George Rohloff. On June 28, 1963, she was married to Walter Merwin Forbes, who survives.
Carol was a 1954 graduate of Willoughby Union High School in Willoughby, Ohio, where she had lived out her youth; and was a 1959 graduate of Baptist Bible College in Johnson City, New York. She moved to Winona Lake with her husband while he pursued graduate training at Grace Theological Seminary. After he graduated from Grace in 1974, she joined her husband in the pastorate at the Bluffton Baptist Church in Bluffton, Ind. She returned to Winona Lake, when her husband joined the faculty at Grace College and Seminary in 1977 and has lived there till her passing.
Her professional life has included Westminster Printing in Winona Lake; secretary to the Academic Dean at Grace College; accounting office at Brethren Missionary Herald Company; administrative assistant at Ivy Tech State College in Warsaw; and finishing her work life at Grace College in the Winona History Center when she retired in 2008.
Carol was best known for loving hurting people and her generous giving spirit. More recently she was known for her joyful attitude, faith, courage and her recent fight in her battle against cancer. Her cancer motto was “Wearing pink, Going public, and Fighting like a girl.” She was also known for her life-long hand-craft work…a craft she learned from her mother as a child. Carol loved serving others by serving God with her hands. She has crocheted thousands of cross book marks and other crafts that have gone all over the world via various mission agencies. She was an avid reader of missionary biographies. She was also known for her community volunteer work and has been awarded several honors: The Ivy Tech Employee of the Year Award and the Grace Village Volunteer of the Year Award. With her husband, Skip, she was inducted into the Grace College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015 with the Meritorious Service Award. Carol was an active member of Fellowship Baptist Church of Warsaw for 43 years.
She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Walter M. “Skip” Forbes, Winona Lake, Ind. There were no children born to her but she will be remembered by many hundreds of college students with whom she mentored throughout their college years and beyond. However, she was privileged to be asked to be “Co-Mother of the Bride” to three special young women: Cheryl (Lancaster) Lawlor (Indianapolis, Ind.), Lisa (Wharton) Moore (Lynchburg, Va.), and Kathy (Foth) Bush (Round Lake Beach, Ill.). She was preceded in death by her parents. Carol will be greatly missed by her husband and many friends, and will live in the hearts of all that she touched.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, August 31, 2017 from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw, Ind. There will also be calling an hour prior to the service on Friday, September 1, 2017, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Her funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017, at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home and officiated by Pastor Layne Sumner. Burial will follow with a graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery of Warsaw.
Memorial donations in Carol’s name may be directed to Fellowship Baptist Church, 1838 E Kosciusko Drive, Warsaw, Ind., 46582; or to Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund, c/o K-21 Foundation, P.O. Box 1810, Warsaw, Ind., 46581-1810 and would be very much appreciated.