James Edward Forbus

James Edward Forbus, of Frederick, MD, died March 7, 2013, at Frederick Memorial Hospital of a stroke.

He was born in Maverick, Texas, June 15, 1932, the son of the late J. Douglass and Ruth M. Forbus.

He graduated from Amarillo (TX) High School; Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, where he met his future wife, Elin B. Forbus, whom he married August 22, 1953; and from the Baker School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a trombonist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Ezra Rachlin.

He was a Band Director for the Lubbock, Texas, Public Schools before serving in Korea with the 7th Infantry Division Band. Following that tour of duty, he returned to the University of Texas, Austin, for graduate studies in public administration, which led to a 30-year career with the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service, serving the public in Lufkin, Sherman, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas; and Alexandria and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was awarded a Mid-Career Education Award for a year of graduate study in public administration at the University of Southern California. Subsequently, he was selected as the Assistant Director of the new IRS Service Center on Long Island, New York. After helping set up that Center, he returned to the headquarters of SSA in Baltimore to serve as Deputy Director and later as Director of the Bureau of Retirement and Survivors Insurance. This led to serving as Deputy Associate Commissioner for Operations before retiring in 1986. Jim later served as Interim Director of the SERRV program in New Windsor, MD, continuing an active association with the Church of the Brethren for many years.

In 1975, he and his wife purchased Seven Springs Farm between Johnsville and Union Bridge, Maryland, providing much tender loving care to the 1796 stone farmhouse over a period of 17 years, before moving back to Kerrville in the Hill Country of Texas, to assist his widowed father. After 10 years in Texas, where he played trombone in the Sentimental Journey Orchestra, Jim and Elin returned to Frederick, the area that felt most like home after being 'upwardly mobile' for so many years. Jim was at one time an FMH volunteer and a charter member of the National Christian Choir. He loved teaching Sunday School and Disciple Bible classes, reading, playing in brass ensembles, and traveling, particularly narrow boating on the canals of England, Wales, and the Erie with friends. Jim was a Christian and a truly gentle- man and will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and others he served so faithfully.

Jim is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Elin Broyles Forbus; son David Edward Forbus of Kerrville, TX; brother and sister-in-law Robert D. and Elizabeth K. Forbus of Plano, TX; an uncle Joed Forbus, also of Kerrville; and several cousins, nieces and nephews; and oldest friend, Oscar Julius Olson of Springfield, VA. He was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Deborah Lee Forbus.

Services will be held at Brook Hill United Methodist Church, 8946 Indian Springs Road, Frederick, MD 21702, on March 16 at 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to one's charity of choice or to Brook Hill UMC music ministry.

Jim's body was donated to the Anatomy Board of Maryland for use in medical education and research.

A service of distribution of ashes will be held at a later date.