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Barbara “Cam” Forbes
Cam Forbes, as she has been known since her college days, died at the Ridge Senior Residences in Exeter, New Hampshire, on Friday, October 21, after a brief illness. She was 86.
Born Barbara Jane Cameron in Southampton on September 28, 1925, she grew up and lived most of her life on the East End of Long Island. She graduated from Southampton High School and then from Skidmore College, where she met Charlie Forbes from Colgate University. They married and moved to Quogue to raise an ever-expanding family of children—six in all.
Ms. Forbes and her husband were part of the original St. Patrick’s Day parade committee in Westhampton Beach and were honored to serve as grand marshals. She headed the parade in March 1989, much to the delight of her family and friends. They constructed a float in her honor that took first prize that year.
Ms. Forbes’s great joy was her family but she was also known as a crossword puzzler, usually completing the Sunday New York Times puzzle before noon, in ink. She and Charlie hosted several famous treasure hunt parties in which teams were sent on great searches for clues throughout Westhampton, Quogue and the surrounding area. These hunts always started with clues embedded in a crossword puzzle she created.
Ms. Forbes is survived by her children, Susan Lilley and her husband Robert, Thomas Forbes and his wife Kathleen, Cameron Ann Howard and her husband Douglas, Lisa Ryan and her husband Parker, Shelley Natalie and her husband Joseph, Melissa Levi and her husband Gary; four grandchildren, Melissa and Christopher Natalie, and Devon and Brooke Ryan. She was predeceased by her husband, Charles B. Forbes.
Visitation will take place Friday, October 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Follett & Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. The funeral service will be held Saturday, October 29, at 10:30 a.m. at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to the American Cancer Society or the Make a Wish Foundation.
on Oct 25, 2011