London, England - Elizabeth "Lizz" Sheldon Holmans, also known during different periods of her life as Elizabeth Firth Sheldon and Elizabeth Sheldon Braver, and affectionately known to her family as "Pokey," passed away in London, England on April 15, 2026, at the age of 73.

Elizabeth Firth Sheldon was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 28, 1952, to Betty Shinkle Brennan and Russell Sheldon. From the age of four months, she was raised by her maternal grandparents, Jack Shinkle and Vera Hannah Shinkle, whose influence remained an important part of her life. Lizz graduated from Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa.

Lizz was an exceptionally intelligent, outspoken, and memorable woman whose life touched many different worlds. Quick-witted, politically passionate, deeply well-read, and often sharply funny, she possessed a strong sense of conviction and rarely hesitated to speak her mind. Friends and family who knew her in her younger years remember her as intellectually curious, fiercely articulate, and deeply engaged with the people and ideas around her.

She pursued nursing at South Oklahoma City Junior College, earning her associate degree in nursing and achieving what was then reported to be the highest score ever recorded on the state nursing board examination. She later served as charge nurse of the neuro rehabilitation unit at Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City before working at Norman Regional Hospital and eventually with the American Red Cross Blood Services in Norman, Oklahoma.

Following her retirement from the Red Cross in early 1995, Lizz volunteered with Red Cross Disaster Services in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing, assisting with triage and emergency response during one of Oklahoma's darkest moments.

Beyond her medical career, Lizz loved literature, theater, art, animals, spirited conversation, and the exchange of ideas. During the 1990s, she appeared in local theater productions including The Grapes of Wrath and The Elephant Man. She also became widely known in the early online world of Usenet, where she earned international respect as a trusted volunteer helping combat some of the earliest forms of internet spam and abuse long before the modern internet took shape.

Lizz's life also included long struggles with major clinical depression and related health challenges. Those struggles increasingly shaped the later chapters of her life and complicated many of her relationships. Yet those who knew her across different periods of her life remember not only her difficulties, but also her intelligence, humor, strong opinions, compassion, and the force of personality that made her impossible to forget.

Early in her adult life, Lizz married Charles Gaylor, with whom she had her first son, Trevor I. Sheldon-Gaylor. She later married Robert Braver, with whom she had sons William Robert Braver and Jonathan Erik Braver. In 1997, she moved to London, England, a country she had long loved, where she later married Michael Holmans and remained for the rest of her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents and grandparents; her husband, Michael Holmans; her brother Dennis Cochran; sister-in-law Marilyn Cochran; fathers-in-law William R. Gaylor and Gerald Braver; mother-in-law Zolalee Gaylor; and uncle Robert Shaffer.

She is survived by her children, Trevor I. Sheldon-Gaylor; William Braver-McCarty and his wife Mara Braver-McCarty; and Jonathan Erik Braver and partner Mallory Hamblin; former husbands Charlie Gaylor and Robert Braver; sisters Suanne Alsip and husband Dennis Alsip, Sheila Hill and husband Norman "Bud" Hill, and Lillian Sheldon Reese; brother William Sheldon; brother-in-law David Holmans; sisters-in-law Joyce Gaylor, Susan Braver Adams, and Nancy Braver; nephews Jay Adams, Jesse Adams, John Cochran and wife Tricia, and Michael Hill and wife Melanie; nieces Denise Cochran, Renee LaFont Conti, Courtney LaFont, and Lauren Vinson and husband Jacob; aunt Celeste Shaffer; cousins Joe Shaffer and Susan Richardson; mothers-in-law Norma Braver and Lois Hilbert; as well as many other extended family members, former colleagues, and friends from many chapters of her life in both the United States and England.

The family would like to express their gratitude to Annabelle Svedberg and her associates for their care, support, and assistance during the final years of Lizz's life.

A memorial service celebrating Lizz's life will be held Friday, June 19, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the NCED Conference Center and Hotel, 2801 OK-9, Norman, Oklahoma 73071.

Those who knew Lizz carry forward memories of a woman whose intelligence, humor, passion, and complexity left a lasting impression on the many lives she touched.