Emily Christmann Forbes – June 5, 1968 – June 7, 2021 A beneficiary of Title IX and an accomplished lacrosse player from New Jersey, Emily Forbes looked out on the lacrosse field watching her sons play and made it her personal mission to bring girls lacrosse to Tulsa. As Coach a few years later, she took pride in seeing her daughter play across the region and the first woman, then the next and the next to go to college and play the sport she loved. Whether in Oklahoma, New Jersey, or Massachusetts, Emily's family and friends knew the latest and cheered her players and her on. But Emily wasn't a one sport athlete, so of course she couldn't be a one sport mother. Her early dedication to the Jenks swimming program put her poolside for many years as she helped the program grow. Pool deck, lacrosse field, or football stands, Emily was all in, not for the sport itself, but for the lessons to last a lifetime. Born New York Tough, raised Jersey Girl Strong, and an Oklahoma Sooner by marriage, Emily loved traveling across the country most summers to vacation at the Jersey Shore or in the Adirondack mountains, sharing the joys of her childhood with her sons and daughter, and slowly turning her husband into an adopted Easterner. There were always friends to visit wherever the family traveled and in truth there were no strangers in Emily's life, only to-be-discovered friends. Emily Jean Christmann Forbes finished her battle with Central Nervous System Lymphoma on June 7, 2021, two days after her 53rd birthday, at her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her family holding her and her dogs watching over. Emily and her husband Chuck (Charles Noble Forbes Jr.) took no greater pride in, and had complete focus on their children, Charles Christmann Forbes (21), Griffin Alexander Forbes (19), and Alexandra Quebec Forbes (15). All three children are Jenks lifers and always had Emily's full support, whether by coaching, cheering or simply smiling as she watched her children grow. Emily and Chuck found great joy searching for new breweries while traveling across the country with her family, but she was just as happy sipping beer from her named mug "Lacrosse Chick" at McNellie's, a family favorite in Tulsa. Emily was born in Manhasset, New York on Long Island on June 5, 1968 and grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey as a competitive swimmer and as a lacrosse player in both high school and college where she played in the NCAA D3 Lacrosse Championship game. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1990 with the mighty purple class, forever part of this great sisterhood. Her career started in Boston as an IT consultant with CSC. Business travel took her around the country, eventually to Dallas. After meeting her husband, a Sooner by birth, she landed at Hilti as an IT manager, giving her the short commute that she highlighted as but one great reason to live in Tulsa. Despite that short commute, though, her travel didn't stop, with frequent trips to Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Mexico City, and South America. She put her career on hold to fight cancer, with her absolute conviction that she would return. While she spent the past five years fighting her brain cancer, it did not define her. She was a superhero and relentless fighter with boundless energy who moved from treatment to adventure in a single bound. At the same time, she didn't run from cancer's effects, evidenced by her Oklahoma driver's license picture, sporting closely cropped chemo hair coupled with a brilliant smile. Emily was a light to the world, and she truly lived each day intentionally, with so much joy and commitment. In her words: "the only thing certain in uncertain times is the power of love, friendship, compassion, and forgiveness. Smile and breathe". Emily was predeceased by her parents Alice and Eugene Christmann and, in addition to her husband and children, is survived by brother Andrew Christmann, his wife Terri and daughter Olivia, and sister Abigail Christmann and her partner Clairanne Arcaro. Donations can be made in Emily's memory to MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, designated to Lymphoma.  gifts.mdanderson.org  Friends and family will be received on Friday, June 25, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at St Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Dunstan's on Saturday, June 26 at noon