ROCK FALLS — Forrest Lynn “Tabe” Tabor was born Aug. 24, 1913, in Bement, and grew up on a farm. He graduated from Bement High School in 1931. After attending Western Illinois University for 2 years, he taught in a one-room school in Piatt County. Returning to college in the summers, he completed his degree in 1939, the same year he married Geraldine Keyes. He received his Master of Arts in Educational Administration from the University of Illinois in 1941.

Tabe taught at Roxanna, Milford, and Marshall before accepting an offer to teach aerial navigation for the Navy at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. After 2 years there, he applied for a commission in the Navy, and served as navigator on the destroyer USS Metcalfe DD-595 in the Pacific during World War II.

Returning to Illinois, Tabe was principal at Coal City High School before coming to Rock Falls High School, where he served as principal, then superintendent, from 1950 to 1973. During those years, he was involved in renovations of the high school building, was a leader in the establishment of Sauk Valley Community College and the Bi-County Special Education Cooperative, and served as president of the Illinois High School Association.