Harvey Forbes, a retired real estate and construction professional, has made the journey to Omaha nine times to stand beside his son Scott, the current head coach of the Tar Heels baseball team, during the national championship series. Despite a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis that has weakened his lungs, Harvey’s pride in Scott’s achievements eclipses his health concerns, a testament to the family’s relentless support.
The Forbes family’s tradition of togetherness is on full display each Thanksgiving, when the clan gathers around a table that has hosted generations, reinforcing a bond that stretches from Sanford to the baseball diamonds of Omaha.
A Father's Footprint in Omaha
Scott’s coaching path began as a volunteer assistant, a role he embraced after his father’s counsel to chase his dreams, and his rise has been bolstered by the encouragement of his wife Mandy and longtime mentor Mike Fox.
At the team hotel, the Forbes household keeps doors propped open, a simple gesture that eases the search for one another, while daughters Hannah and Ally have relocated to be nearer their parents, completing a tableau of familial closeness.
Harvey’s deep familiarity with Omaha — its walking trails, its culinary nooks, its historic neighborhoods — has turned him into an unofficial guide, a role he cultivated since the early days when Scott was a first‑year Tar Heel assistant in 2006.
Beyond the city, the family’s roots stretch to Sanford, where Harvey built his home in 1980 and has hosted Thanksgiving for six decades, a ritual that now draws his children Stewart and Diane, as well as his grandchildren, into a sprawling gathering that can swell to two dozen strong.