Fern Tribe

Fern Tribe, 98, of Peotone, passed away Saturday, October 19, 2013 at Presence St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee.

Fern was born Sept. 18, 1915, in Crossville, the daughter of Glenn and Ella Barbre Hanks. Fern spent her childhood on a farm. She attended a one-room school and traveled to and from school on a horse. For some of her elementary school years, her teacher lived with Fern's family. Fern fondly reminisced about life on the farm and told stories about everything from hog butchering to getting electricity for the first time. On June 21, 1936, Fern married Stewart Tribe. While her husband was stationed overseas during World War II, Fern worked in a defense plant building airplanes. After the war, her husband was elected sheriff of Edwards County and Fern served as the matron of the county jail, cooking for the inmates and supervising the inmates as they cleaned and maintained the premises. Eventually, Stew accepted a job as a state trooper, and they moved to Peotone in 1952. In Peotone, Fern was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and the American Legion Auxiliary. Fern and Stew enjoyed traveling throughout the United States. After Stew's retirement, they spent their winters in Florida. Stew died Feb. 5, 1988.

Fern is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Ellen Tribe, of Bourbonnais; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Glenna Joy, in 1949.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Fedde-Helfrich-Cross Funeral Home in Peotone, where funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Peotone.