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When Choctaw native Mitch Tabor said he was going to do something, you could just about write it in stone.
He was a man of action – the leading force behind the establishment of the Choctaw Volunteer Fire Department more than 30 years ago and a man who gave decades of service to keeping the people in his community safe and funded for protection.
But away from firefighting, those closest to Tabor remember the man for his heart. They say that he was also a man of family and a loving husband – a man who would do anything to take care of those whom he loved most.
Tabor passed away on Jan. 4 at the age of 62. Those closest to him said that they will miss his fun-loving spirit and his ability to always do and say the right things to create smiles.
“He was more than my uncle. He was a positive father figure to me growing up – always protecting me and my mom,” Tabor’s niece Macy Rink said. “I think everyone loved him so much because he was just a real honest, genuine and good-hearted person. That’s so hard to find these days.”
Being a fireman and a community-first civilian is arguably going to be Tabor’s lasting memory to the citizens of Choctaw.
Tabor was a fireman at heart. He and his wife Priscilla Benoit Tabor were two of 20 charter members of the Choctaw Fire Department, which got rolling in the Fall of 1983.
Tabor was also once a chairman of Lafourche Fire District 8B, and a former president of Choctaw’s Fire Department for one term. After that term, he became the vice president of the department for more than a decade – a 12-year run that lasted until the final days of the man’s life.
Choctaw Fire Chief Craig Rink said that Tabor loved to be a fireman, touting that he knew all of the in’s and out’s of creating a fiscally responsible department that could maximize its resources.
The chief noted the immense growth the department saw in Tabor’s time with the department – success that many say is a direct result to the hard work and diligence of Tabor and the department’s other founding members.
In the early 1980s, the Choctaw Volunteer Fire Department had next to nothing. It was run out of a building that was very small and built by the firemen in the force – Tabor included.
Today, Choctaw’s fire department presence has grown, now featuring two separate stations. Chief Rink and others credit Tabor’s vision and diligence throughout his lifetime for that growth.
“He loved what he did,” Craig Rink said. “He was all-in and a giant leading helping hand in everything that we did. … He will be missed now that he’s no longer with us. You need passion to be successful and very few have that driving passion that he did.”
One memory that family members said was near and dear to Tabor’s heart was the annual Choctaw Fireman’s Fair, which draws hundreds, if not thousands, of people to the small town each year.
As a high-ranking fire department official, it would have been easy for Tabor to delegate work and enjoy the weekend of fun.
He never did that. That’s not the man that Mitch Tabor was.
Each year, he worked overtime at the event. Sure, he had fun doing it, but it was mostly done so that others in the community could enjoy the weekend of fun free from work. To this day, Tabor is known for being a man famous behind the grill cooking the fair’s famous grilled hamburgers – the all-beef patties that Chief Craig Rink said are one of the big draws of the event, which has now taken place 32 years and running.
“He did everything that he could to help,” his niece Stephanie Molaison said of her uncle. “He stayed busy and was a big part of our family. We all knew he loved us, but he always was doing something to make things better for someone.”
When not helping others, Tabor was a family man who dedicated his love to those closest to his heart.
He married Priscilla as an adult, though the couple never shared any kids.
Without any child to call his own, Tabor gave extra care to his closest relatives.
Macy Rink said that her uncle was a fun-loving person who would always spoil his loved ones every chance that he got.
She said that Tabor was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of man – the type of person who could be stern when he needed to be, but also had a propensity for playing jokes and ribbing others to generate smiles.
“He lit up my life,” Macy Rink said of her uncle. “There are so, so many things that I will remember.”
Remembrance seems to be a common theme among those asked about Tabor’s life. The firemen he worked with all said they will miss his diligence, passion and ability to always decipher the right thing to do in any situation.
“There aren’t many people like him,” Craig Rink added. “He had a great impact and will be remembered forever.” •
Choctaw native Mitch Tabor was a fireman through and through. One of the founding members of the Choctaw Volunteer Fire Department, Tabor passed away on Jan. 4 at the age of 62.
