- Date Of Birth: November 29, 1928
- Date Of Death: October 12, 2016
- State: New Mexico
John L. Jenkins, Major (Ret), U.S Marine Corps, 87, passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness on October 12, 2016.
He was born in Austin, TX on November 29, 1928 to Edwin Jenkins and Elrena Twidwell Jenkins. He was raised by his grandparents on a truck farm in Henly, TX, where he learned a love and appreciation for growing things. At 14, he moved to Austin, TX to attend Austin High School. He worked at a stationary store after high school and played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds farm team. He broke his leg sliding into third base and was hospitalized, where he met and later married his nurse, Rose Marie Evers. They had two children, John Kenneth (Bud) and Joni Marie.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps (USMC) Reserves in 1946 and was activated two years later. He began his computer career in the Marines, where he was one of six selected to attend the first USMC programing school. He served his country as a Marine for 25 years, working his way from Enlisted to Officer (Mustang) and retiring as a Major in 1972. After retiring from the Marine Corps, John worked at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in the Computing Center, where he met Clarice Wesley. John and Clarice married on October 30, 1976, and moved to Columbia, Missouri, where he worked at the University of Missouri. In 1983, they moved back to Albuquerque, where John continued his career in computing at UNM. He retired in 1994. In 1990, while at UNM, he was an instrumental part of the creation of the New Mexico High School Super Computer Challenge. After retiring from UNM, he continued his work for the Challenge at New Mexico Technet (Oso Grande) as Coordinator until 1997.
Tuesday, October 18th, 2016, 10:30am, FRENCH – Westside
