A military funeral honors ceremony will be held for James A. Forrest (Swartzwelder) on Monday, April 9, 2018, at 2:00 PM, at the Bakersfield National Cemetery, 30338 East Bear Mountain Boulevard, Arvin, CA. Jim Forrest was born December 13, 1930, in Cumberland, Maryland. He moved to Bakersfield in 1936, graduated from East Bakersfield High School in 1949 and joined the US Marine Corps in 1950. He proudly served as a sergeant in the Korean War and was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in action in 1951. Following his discharge in 1953, he attended Bakersfield College and graduated from San Jose State College, embarking on a long career in education. He taught for Rosedale, San Lorenzo, Bakersfield, and Arvin school districts. He was the principal of Meridian School in Arvin and Thomas Jefferson, Karl Clemens, and Palm Avenue schools in Wasco, CA. He earned his doctoral degree in education in 1981 from USC and was named superintendent of Wasco Elementary Union School District in 1988. He retired from that position in 1993, and went on to be elected twice to the Wasco Elementary Board of Trustees, continuing to serve in that capacity until his passing. The Wasco Board of Trustees recently honored him by voting to name Wasco's newest school the James A. Forrest Elementary School. In addition to being an educator, Jim was an avid hunter and fisherman. He supported his favorite pastimes by serving in leadership roles in local, county and state organizations, such as the Association of California School Administrators, Kern County Parks and Recreation, Northwest Resource Conservation District, Tulare Basin Wetlands Association and Wasco Community Scholarship Association. Jim is survived by his daughter, Pamela Bianchi; grandchildren, Matthew Bianchi and Paige Bianchi Bond (Mark); one great-granddaughter, Haley Bond; sister, Judy Klarich (Arvin) and half-brother Glenn Broadwater (Charlotte). He was preceded in death by his sister Marge Wahl and wife Virginia Forrest. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Semper Fi Fund, https://semperfifund.org.