Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Forrest Thomas LaBine

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Forrest Thomas LaBine, 85, of Green Bay, Wis. and formerly of Trout Creek, Mich., Bergland, Mich., Silver Springs, Fla. and Vermilion, Ohio passed away December 19, 2015.

Forrest was known by those around him as Tom. He was born July 20, 1930 in Trout Creek, Mich., son of the late Medrick and Bernice (Moffit) LaBine. Tom grew up in Trout Creek and started working at an early age. As a teenager, he had his own team of horses and used them plowing gardens and whatever work he could find. He became involved in logging, cutting saw logs and pulp. Tom then moved on to working for a saw mill, being a jack of all trades and a mechanic. When the White Pine copper mine started up he went to work there as a mechanic. Later he went into his own logging operation for about 15 years and then back to the mine until his retirement.

On December 10, 1949, he married Fern Margaret Gooding. They had 3 children; Thomas, David and Joy. Not long after retiring and getting to spend time in Florida, Fern passed away in August of 1994 from liver cancer. They had been approaching their 45th wedding anniversary.

Tom continued to go to Florida and later married Virginia Allen in April of 1995. They spent just over 20 tears together doing much traveling and visiting relatives from coast to coast. She had 2 daughters; Patsy (Jim) Gray and Joyce (Grant) Harding.

Tom is survived by his son Thomas, daughter Joy (Jim); six grandchildren Jaimie, Ashlea, Aaron, Adam, Steven and Travis; his brother, Archie (Rose); sister Dorothy Williams; step-daughters Patsy and Joyce; along with their children and grandchildren; daughter-in-laws Vicky and Cindy, and many other nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Besides his parents, Tom was preceded in death by his wives Fern & Virginia, son David, brother Cecil, sister Leota and daughter-in-law Lorelei.

Funeral Services will be held Monday, December 28, 2015 at 3 p.m. at the Cane Funeral Home in Bruce Crossing. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until the time of service. Spring burial will take place in the Lakeview Cemetery in Bergland.

A special thank you goes out to the Doctors at Bellin Health Care in Green Bay along with all those who have assisted in many ways.