Nancy Carroll Trainor Forbes died peacefully in her sleep early Wednesday morning on February 26, 2025. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama on March 10, 1930, and raised by Everett and Alta Trainor.
Nancy was most fond of her time spent as secretary to Mayor Cooper Green in Birmingham from 1950-1958. In her position, she had a first-row seat for the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and spoke of it often. Nancy considered herself somewhat of an historian as well, having been one of the few women of her day to earn a master’s degree in history. Her focus, of course, was Alabama history, and she would talk your ear off about it if you let her. If you spoke with her for any length of time at all, however, the conversation would inevitably turn to her family, of which she was particularly proud. She loved to wash down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cold ginger ale or a Coke over ice. Her family never saw her turn down a cold glass of buttermilk, either (she liked to put salt in it). She lived a simple and productive life, but, most of all, she was loved.
Nancy is survived by two sons, Ed and Earl Forbes; three grandchildren, Ethan (partner, Courtney), Jack (wife, Katherine), and Grace Forbes; two great grandchildren, Arthur and Oliver Forbes; nephew, Jimmy Forbes; nieces, Wanda Forbes Burns and Gayle Forbes-Wagner; and many great nieces and nephews.
Visitation for Nancy will be from 10 to 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville. A graveside service will follow at 11:30 at Maple Hill Cemetery, where she will be buried next to her late husband, Jack William Forbes. All are welcome. No donations are sought.
