Grandpa

Holmon Edwin Forbes

I want to write about my Grandpa, Holman Edwin Forbes. When I was growing up he lived three miles away with my Nana. I loved to go visit him, though he was sometimes very strict seeming. He had served for many years in the Air Force and worked with a lot of airplanes. At the time (Nana told me this) it was not manly to wear earplugs so none of the men did; when they became older they all were hard of hearing and my grandfather was no exception to this. We had to shout in order for him to hear us.

            My mother sent me a lot of records that concerned him, and from those I will write a brief history of his life.

            He was born in Colebrook, New Hampshire on September 1, 1928. His father was Allen A. Forbes and his mother Leis Alma Cass. Both were also born in the area. Allen worked as a farmer while his mother was a housewife. Holman went to school in town and graduated from Colebrook Academy in 1946. He then enlisted in the Air Force and two years later married my grandmother, Donna Eva Rowan, in Texas. They actually grew up together. He fought in the Korean War and was stationed in several different places. They had a son, then a daughter who died not even a year later, then another daughter (my mother). After his military career was over twenty years later, he went to Keene State College and got a degree in Industrial Art. He was hired as a shop teacher in 1972 by Canaan Memorial High School and taught there for many years.

            Later he and his wife moved on a business venture with a friend to Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a trade school curriculum developer and maintenance supervisor. I loved going to my grandparents’ house and seeing all the neat things they brought back with them. When He and Donna did return he started his own business, Forbes Construction, and did that until he got cancer. He passed away on August 10, 1997. I remember when I found out; I was at church, and Mom quickly gathered us up, told us, and drove home. I am very grateful for his hard work ethic. He was a great example to me.