Marvin E. Forbes, a true man of God, a friend to all, a beloved brother, husband, father, and grandfather, and lifelong Orland, CA resident passed away on April 3, 2024 at the age of 91. He is survived by two sisters, Careen Keith (Bob) and Nina Bates (Sonny Simmons), his four children Brent Forbes (Kelly), Scott Forbes (Barb), Kelly Smock (Claude), and Wade Forbes (Gina), his nine grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren. He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Darlene (Kayser) Forbes, of 64 years, his parents Ernest "Shorty" and Marie Forbes, and sister Carol Vivan.

Marvin was born June 6th, 1932 on the kitchen table of his childhood home where he was raised as a dairyman. He married his high school sweetheart, Darlene (Kayser) Forbes on March 6th, 1954 and remained sweethearts until her unexpected passing in 2018. Shortly after getting married, he joined the army and served over in Germany for 2 years. After the service he had many occupations, he was always one with a side hustle, but his longest and well-known occupation was an insurance agent for over 50 years.  His longevity and success in the insurance industry would earn him many trips, which included places like the Holy Land, Egyptian Pyramids, and London, England.

Along with traveling, Marvin enjoyed being heavily involved with his church and church community, he served as a Deacon, taught FCYF (Young and Free), played chauffeur and gave several kids rides to Awanas, piloting his single engine Cessna plane, teaching people to windsurf, and to bring joy to those around him. He touched many lives with his generosity and passion for life. His bright light will be deeply missed.

Family and friends are invited to attend a graveside service on Tuesday, April, 16th, 2024 at 11 am at the Odd Fellow Cemetery located at 3900 County Road P, Orland, CA 95963 followed by a Celebration of Life at the Country Bible Church located at 5000 3rd Avenue, Orland, CA 95963.

Arrangements are held under the direction of Sweet-Olsen Family Mortuary.

The following was written for Facebook by his only granddaughter, Paige Schroer:

I am writing this with the heaviest of heart...on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 my beloved grandpa, Marvin Forbes, passed away. How do I begin to describe someone I called my hero? To know him was to love him. A true gem of a human being. He was a true God loving individual, leading his family by example. Next to his love for God, he loved his wife, Darlene Forbes, devotedly for 64 years, until her unexpected passing in 2018.

He was a man of many trades: a dairyman, a high school quarter back, a trumpet player in the marching band, an army veteran, a Montgomery Wards store owner, a real estate agent, a sporting goods salesman, a windsurfing instructor teaching over 50 people, a pilot for over 50 years landing at over 200 different airports and he worked as an insurance agent for over 50 years until he finally decided to retire at the ripe ole age of 84. I'm sure I am forgetting some of his other trades but his biggest trade of all was the gift to GAB.

He knew no stranger! He would talk to just about anyone and everyone no matter where we were. When my brother, cousins and I were younger he would take us to the fair for a day. To get him to stop talking to literally everyone we would have to pull on his arm multiple times to keep him moving through the crowd. I will never forget on one of our many trips in the motorhome with he and my grandma, we had stopped to each lunch at a random costal parking lot up in Oregon. Grandma was shuffling around making lunch for all of us and we were telling grandpa how he must know everyone. He disagreed. My brother says "I bet you know those people right there!" pointing to a couple parked next to us and my grandpa looks, looks again and then jumps up, says "I do know them!" and out the door he ran to gab. Turns out they were insurance clients of his from Chico.

His gift to gab lead him to take a Dale Carnegie course where he mastered public speaking. He never shied away from an opportunity to stand up and say something in front of a crowd. Whether he was the designated MC or not you could count on him to stand up and share a story, advice, a memory or a joke, which he had a plethora of. (Insert my grandma rolling her eyes as she, and well the rest of us, had heard most of his jokes on repeat. What's the difference between a beehive and a bank?...)

He was a huge supporter to all. He was the kind of man who never missed a funeral no matter how well he knew the departed, he always visited people in the hospital when they weren't well, and always traveled around visiting different families, church members and/or family members. He was always super involved with his church and if any member needed help or advice, he was the first one to step in.

My grandparents will always be in some of my most precious core memories growing up. They both were the type of grandparents who did NOT miss an event for all their grandchildren, even my horse shows, which my grandpa would describe as "like watching grass grow." They took us on week-long (sometimes two weeks) vacations every summer in their bounder motorhome where we would always end the trip at Lake Siskiyou. Lake Siskiyou will always be a special place to me because of them.

Every year on my birthday (and his other grandchildren's birthdays) he and grandma would pick me up before school, drive me out to the airport and fly me someplace for breakfast. It was a birthday tradition I will never forget.

Several years ago Grandpa and I started a tradition of Friday night dates under the lights cheering on our Alma mater football team. It was rare for us to miss a home game. My grandma loved it because she'd get a few hours of quiet to do her cross words but you bet they'd be texting each other back and forth with game updates the whole time. I didn't realize how special those football dates would end up being to me. I will treasure those cold nights spent sitting next to my hero for eternity.

I could go on and on about this special man. He IS and will always be the man, the myth, the legend! I will miss his infectious laugh, his caring soul, and his love for me. The only thing that brings me a little peace about his departure from this world is knowing that he has reunited with his lover....his chickadee.

I will leave you with some fun facts about my grandpa:

You were not allowed to touch his hair, EVER.

Said hair was ALWAYS covered in Aqua Net hairspray.

He HATED broccoli and snakes.

He could ride a bicycle backwards...EVEN at 80 years old.

He ALWAYS had the latest and greatest cell phone, starting with the OG car phone in a bag and graduating to a blackberry.

He was on an award-winning Army pistol team.

He poured milk on his cake and waffles.

He was ambidextrous.

On road trips he and my grandma had an obsession with spotting purple semi trucks...if you know you know!

"IF YOU DON'T COME BACK, BE SURE AND WRITE."