Jackie Douglas Jenkins

Jackie Douglas Jenkins was born in Lordsburg, New Mexico, December 15, 1933, the youngest child of Lee Henry Jenkins and Jessie Thelma Collins. He is survived by his beloved wife, Gynna Thornton; children Robin "Jedree" (Robin) Moore of Carlisle, Iowa; Lynn (Howard) Estrada of Gallup, NM; Jacky Jenkins II of Las Cruces; David (Donna) of Roswell, NM; and Johnathan (Robyn) of Albuquerque. He is survived by 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. His father died in 1934, leaving Jessie alone to raise five children, ages one to ten, in a town far from their Missouri roots and relatives. There was no welfare in 1934 and Jessie struggled to feed her family. Jackie knew hunger and poverty. The family would walk from their home to the cemetery to hunt rabbits. Later, he and his two older brothers would walk or hitchhike out to the hills around Lordsburg to hunt deer. Jessie found a waitress job at the Railroad Club in the Hidalgo Hotel. The job provided left over food to feed the family and a meager income to keep them housed. During the summer and on school holidays, Jackie's mom farmed out the three boys to ranches in the area. There he learned to ride, rope and work cattle. He loved being out in the country and learned how to work hard. Most of his time was spent on the Bar-T and Gray ranches. He worked whenever a friend needed a hand all through his life. When the war started things looked up. Troop trains came thru Lordsburg and the servicemen would throw coins out the windows, watch and laugh as the scruffy little boys fought for the coins. Jack started working in the mines at age 12. He was driving a dump truck and mucking in a galena mine Jackie attended school in Lordsburg. He loved sports and was a four-year letterman in football. Back then, you played both ways for a full 60 minutes. He and a buddy went over to NMSU in the spring of 1952 to try out for the football team as walk-ons. After a day of being tackling dummies for the team, they were bruised, bloody and disabused of the notion of playing for the Aggies. After the football tryout, he went directly to the Navy recruiting office and signed up. He finished gunnery school in Pensacola and was assigned to a squadron in Sasebo, Japan, as a top turret gunner. But, as the UN troops withdrew from North Korea, every gunner in Sasebo was pulled out and assigned to squadrons on aircraft carriers in the South China Sea. Jackie served aboard the USS Boxer and the USS Philippine Sea. At 18, Jackie found himself in combat, providing close air support for the operation. He rarely spoke of what he did or saw in Korea. He flew 52 combat missions. He lost friends and turned 19 flying over the frozen ground of Korea and Jackie became Jack. After receiving an honorable discharge, campaign ribbons and medals, he moved to Lancaster, California to work for North American Experimental Flight Test. This was the job he had dreamed of. But his mother became ill, and being her only unmarried child, he left the job he loved and returned to Lordsburg to care for his mother. He worked for Whitfield transportation and eventually bought a service station and hamburger joint. One cold, snowing morning, he was cleaning the slush off the driveway of the service station and decided there must be a better way to make a living. He sold his business and moved his family, a wife and 3 kids, to Silver City and started college at Western NM College. He worked every job imaginable to keep the family fed while he attended classes. He was the service manager at a car dealership, the janitor at the hardware store, and a night watchman at the Bullfrog mine. Jack graduated from Western with a degree in accounting and took the job of assistant business manager for the Gallup-McKinley County Schools in 1968. By this time, he had 5 kids to feed, so he also worked weekends as a bartender at the Silver Spur in Gallup. He made friends with the Navajos and was given the name Shash, or bear. In 1978, he took the Business Manager position with Carlsbad Municipal Schools. During this time, he was active in NM Association of School Business Officials. He held the position of State President on two occasions and served two terms as President of the NM School Administrators Association. He was appointed by Governor Tony Anaya to the SB109 School Reform Committee and served in numerous capacities working on school legislation. While living in Carlsbad, Jack earned his private pilot's license at McCausland Aviation. He loved to fly and did at any opportunity. His favorite phrase of encouragement was "Keep your tail up!" It was a reference to flying planes called tail-draggers. You had to keep the tail up to take off and land successfully. Also, while in Carlsbad, he met and married Gynna Thornton. In 1987, Jack became the Business Manager for Los Lunas Public Schools. He modernized the business systems, built a bus and maintenance service center and oversaw the opening of 3 new schools. 1994 brought a move to Associate Superintendent of Finance for the Las Cruces Public Schools. He eventually became chief financial officer to 4 different superintendents. He retired from school business in 2006 after serving 38 years in school finance. He then spent a year commuting to Alamogordo as a financial consultant. He was a sought-after mentor and consultant for many business managers and school officials through the years. Jack is best remembered as a straight-shooter in business, a tough negotiator, and a formidable, ornery foe. He was always for what helped children and he better not hear about a school child not being fed. He loved to tell jokes and stories and was one of the funniest people you could meet. Most people saw him as a rough cowboy type, but he loved art and music. He would spend hours in art galleries. He was thrilled when Pavarotti came to Albuquerque and he heard Pavarotti sing in person. He introduced anyone he could to the music he loved. Jack was a color blind and tone-deaf man who loved art and music. Jack had no religious upbringing, but said he always had that tugging in his spirit to seek God. He accepted Jesus Christ as savior and was baptized in 1985. He knew where he was going, was firm in his belief and was not afraid of death. He was ready to meet his savior face-to-face. A celebration of his life will be at 10:00 am. Friday, January 7, 2022, at Getz Funeral Home, 1410 E Bowman, Las Cruces, NM 88001. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to any local program that feeds children. It was his passion that no child goes hungry.