John Frederick Forbes, Sr.

John F. Forbes, Sr., 85 of Palmer, died Thursday, July 11, 2024, surrounded by his loving family at Tabitha at Prairie Commons in Grand Island.

Visitation will be held Saturday, July 20, 2024, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Palmer. Rev. Cesar Duran will offer words of comfort. Burial will follow at the Glenwood Cemetery near Palmer. The family requests that everyone dress extremely casual or “farmer chic”.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Palmer Fire Department, Palmer EMTs or to the family for later designation.

Peters Funeral Home of St. Paul is assisting the family.

John was born on Sept. 1, 1938, on the family farm north of Palmer, the son of Fred L. and Nellie E. (Russell) Forbes. He grew up on the farm and attended Glenwood Dist. 28 country school and graduated from Fullerton High School.

He was united in marriage to Karen L. Tibbetts on Oct. 9, 1960, at the United Methodist Church in Palmer. The couple farmed and raised cattle north of Palmer. He had also worked as a paramedic at Swift in Grand Island for a number of years.

John loved his dogs, and raising cattle was his passion. He enjoyed having coffee with the guys and he and Karen enjoyed traveling and going out to eat. Later in life they enjoyed taking evening drives together.

He was a member of the Palmer United Methodist Church, was a 20-year member of the Palmer EMTs, a member of the Grand Island T-Bone Club and the Nebraska Livestock Feeders.

He is survived by his wife, Karen of Palmer; children and spouses, John Jr. and Nancy Forbes of Palmer, Jill and Ron Schmidt of Geneva and Jeff Forbes of Wood River; six grandchildren, Alexis Schmidt, Erin Schmidt, Toby and Naomi Forbes, David and Jessica Forbes, Danielle and Matt Buhrman, and Kaitlyn and Paul Tenski; and 11 great-grandchildren and another on the way.

He was preceded in death by his parents Fred and Nellie, in-laws, Charles Tibbets and Lucille Lambert Tibbetts, sisters and brothers-in-law, Dorothy and Duane Dudney, and Marilyn and Vern Sonderup.