Obituary of Carolyn Rose Jenkins

Carolyn Rose Gannon Jenkins, 94, passed away on February 25, 2020, at Faith Presbyterian Hospice in Dallas, TX. Carolyn was born on June 17, 1925, in Arkansas City, KS to James Ernest Gannon and Pearl Mae Merriman Gannon. Carolyn grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma. A 1943 graduate of Okmulgee High School (OK), she went on to attend the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, OK, where she received BFA degrees in Broadcast/Drama/Communications in 1946. At OU, Carolyn was a member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women, and in 2019 was initiated into Pi Phi’s Diamond Arrow Society, honoring 75 years of membership. She began working for CBS in Hollywood during the late 1940’s, then rapidly broke several glass ceilings as one of the first and most sought after female broadcast professionals in the U.S. Carolyn moved to first Honolulu, HI, then San Francisco, CA, with the Armed Forces Radio Service. She was quickly slated for a move to Tokyo, Japan, to become one of the first female radio DJ’s, broadcasting for the U.S. Armed Forces. Fate had other plans, however, as a young USAF Lieutenant Thomas C. Jenkins III proceeded to use his connections to make sure Carolyn Gannon’s flight was always changed or postponed so that he could convince her to marry him. Carolyn never made it to Japan but did move to Washington, D.C., as newly married Carolyn Jenkins. She continued to work in radio broadcast for MBS and ABC stations in Washington, D.C. until moving with her family to Tulsa, OK in the 1950’s. Carolyn spent decades in Tulsa working in both radio and television broadcasting and with several major advertising agencies. She was one of the Charter Members and Officers for American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) and helped pioneer and advance the impact of women in electronic media and allied fields during her long and impressive career. She helped usher in the advent of “Morning Show” variety programming that took off nationwide in 1975, hosting Tulsa, Oklahoma’s own version of “Good Morning America”, known as “Tulsa Morning” on KOTV (CBS). Carolyn Jenkins retired in 1987 at the age of 62. In the 26 years to follow, Carolyn lived a very active life, travelling and enjoying retirement and her grandsons. She remained in Tulsa until 2003, then moved to Plano, TX to be close to her daughter and youngest grandsons for the last 16 years of her amazing long life. Carolyn was preceded in death by husband Thomas Canfield Jenkins III (’96), mother Pearl Mae “Kay” Gannon (’94), and brother Thomas Darrell Gannon (’03). Carolyn is survived by son Thomas C. Jenkins IV and wife Marsha of Broken Arrow, OK; daughter Carolyn Janette Jenkins Poston of Plano, TX; grandsons Thomas C. Jenkins V and wife Amanda of Rogers AR; Jackson T. Poston and Gannon R. Poston both of Plano, TX; Great-grandson’s Thomas VI, Wyatt, and Westin of Rogers, AR, as well as beloved nieces and nephews across the US. Mass will be said for Carolyn at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Broken Arrow, OK. Carolyn chose cremation and inurnment with husband Thomas C. Jenkins III at Calvary Cemetery, Tulsa, OK. A private family memorial will be held at Calvary, at a future time TBD. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation https://allwomeninmedia.org/