Eugene MacDonald Forbes

Eugene MacDonald Forbes from Lake Ariel, PA. passed away after a lone battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife and partner in life Carolyn Jarusik Forbes. The couple had been married 57 years.

Eugene was born in Flushing Meadows, New York in 1947, the second son of Kenneth MacAlpin and Pauline Kurinec Forbes.  He was raised in Little Neck and Mineola, New York before moving to what Gene considers his permanent home in Gravity in 1956 when he was nine years old.  Gene loved his new home in Gravity where his roots were planted down deep. An upsetting time in Gene’s life came when he and his family moved to Farmingdale, New York.  This was in 1961 and lasted two years while his dad was starting a new business there.  Gene never accepted this move and fought it tooth and nail to get back to his beloved Gravity.  His move back came in 1963 when his wish came true, and the family moved back home to Gravity.

Gene was a simple person, looking no further than his front door when it came to the necessities in life.  One of those was his wife Carolyn whom he met in high school at the Lake Consolidated School in their senior year of 1965.  They were married on June 3, 1967, and shared their lives through thick and thin when they built their home on the farm of Carolyn’s father, Carl Jarusik and made it their forever home.  They led a simplistic life together and chose that way of life throughout their lives.

Gene and Carolyn were dedicated to each other and to their school classmates by having reunions each year for 20 years until Covid and now cancer discontinued that yearly celebration.

Gene worked at Katz Underwear as a spreader for five years and then went on to work at PennDOT for 31 years as a heavy equipment operator before health reasons forced him to retire early.  After a brief retirement, Gene went to work at St. Thomas More Church in 2004 for eight years before retiring this time for good.  Gene improved the whole parish grounds and buildings with his hard work and dedication to his church.  He spent the remainder of his retirement caring for their property and orchard mowing the grass around the house and in the fields, they also own in Varden in his remaining years.  He took great pride in doing so.

Gene loved feeding the birds all year long.  Always an outdoors person he enjoyed fishing and hunting with his family and neighbors along with cutting firewood.  His love for music had no bounds.  He shared that music with those who sought out music, especially with a very good friend DJ who asked for his assistance when needing a song or songs for his radio shows. Gene was always there if someone needed assistance of any kind, he was there.

Gene was a faithful man and a devoted Catholic who was a 4^th degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 7403.

Carolyn would like to thank all of those who were there for us during Gene’s illness, especially Carl and Sandy Enslin. May they be blessed always.

Also surviving are his daughter Michelle Forbes and granddaughter Victoria Petrosky.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday July 6^th at 10am in the St. Thomas More Church 105 Gravity Rd. Lake Ariel

Friends may call Saturday morning from 9am until 9:45am at the church.   At 9:45 there will be a transferal of the urn into the sanctuary followed by the Knights of Columbus funeral service.

All attending the viewing and/or funeral are asked to maintain a sense of reverence by entering the church in silence and not loiter in the narthex but rather enter the sanctuary in the spirit of prayer and pray for Gene, his family and all of the dearly departed. 

Interment will be private and at the convenience of the family in St. Catherine’s Cemetery, Moscow.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in Gene’s honor and memory to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or by visiting https://www.stjude.org/donate