Robert Francis Forlaw

Robert Francis Forlaw of Greensboro, Georgia, passed away Thursday, June 26, 2014 at The Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.  Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was the son of the late John Russell Forlaw and Merle Hawkins Forlaw.  He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Dick and John Forlaw.  He is survived by his wife Jewell Cravey Forlaw, daughter Rhonda Forlaw Adkins and husband, Trace, granddaughters Mackenzie, Brianna and Trinity Adkins of Brentwood, Tennessee and brothers, Gerald T. Forlaw of Charleston, South Carolina and Dr. J. Russell Forlaw (Bonnie) of Mills River, North Carolina.  
 
As a youth, Bob attended Norman Park High School and Junior College in Norman Park, Georgia.  He joined the Air Force in 1946 and served in many locations after WWII.  After attending airplane and engine mechanic’s school at Biloxi, Mississippi, he attended school at Chanute Field, Rantool, Illinois and was assigned to the Air Force Depot at Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he worked to overhaul airplane propellers.  From here, he was transferred to Troop Carrier Squadron at Allbrook Field, Panama Canal Zone.  Troop Carrier Squadron was assigned to supply and ferry passengers, including all Ambassadors and Military Attaches in South Bogota, Columbia.  When a revolution began there, his squadron was airlifted back to the United States.
 
He was then assigned to change malfunctioning engines on his squadron’s C-54 and C-47 aircraft.  In 1948, as he worked to change a C-54 engine in Montevideo, Uruguay, ten of the squadron’s C-54 aircraft were directed to report to Frankfort, Germany.  Bob landed in Germany on July 4, 1948 and joined the Berlin Airlift.  He changed bad engines on C-54 airplanes 24 hours a day—every day, seven days a week until March 15, 1949.  The famous Berlin Airlift supplied starving German citizens with food and Bob Forlaw was an integral part of this mission.  He was eventually transferred to McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida and repaired B-29 propellers until he was honorably discharged from the service in June 1949.
 
After his military service, Bob attended Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, and later graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.  Upon graduation, he began his career at the Vacuum Tube Division of Sperry Rand Corporation in Gainesville, Florida.
 
So complete were his engineering skills, capabilities and expertise that he could fully research and develop a product from idea, to prototype, to perfected product.  He eventually established his own company with his wife Jewell as office manager.  For 35 years Cain-Forlaw Co., Inc. grew and flourished in Chicago, Illinois.  Bob served as CEO of the company and also founded CFC, a distributorship for sophisticated electronic components.  He often found himself in the roles of salesman, researcher, developer and troubleshooter as well as CEO.  He was the epitome of the “one-stop engineering shop,” often single-handedly analyzing and solving problems where corporate staffs had failed. He was a lifetime member of IEEE, the Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineering.  He enjoyed great success in his business and was greatly admired by clients and vendors alike.  He was known to many as “Honest Bob,” because he always told the truth and never accepted bribes for orders.  He had an established reputation of technical merit working with various electronic devices and communications equipment.  He used his engineering expertise to provide services and solve technical dilemmas for such notable clients as Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Northrup, McDonald Douglas and Mini-Circuits, Inc. to name a few.  At one time his company was the sole supplier of electronic parts for all Motorola CB radios.
 
Bob and Jewell Forlaw enjoyed a wonderful marriage of 63 years.  They have been blessed by the love of a large family and the companionship and support of their legion of friends here at Lake Oconee.
 
The family will receive friends at McCommons Funeral Home on Monday, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  A Memorial Service will be held at the First United Methodist Church, South Campus, 4741 Carey Station Road, Greensboro, GA 30642 on Tuesday, July 1st, at ll:00 a. m.  Serving as pallbearers are Keith Forlaw, Wesley Royal, Alan Lunsford, Donald Lunsford, Glen Bass, Ralph Moore, Jr. and Jim Williford.  The family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in memory of Bob Forlaw, to the First United Methodist Church of Greensboro Building Fund, P. O. Box 216, Greensboro, GA 30642.  McCommons Funeral Home, 109 W. Broad St.  Greensboro, GA, 30642 (706)453-2626, is in charge of arrangements.  Visit us at www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.   

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