Editor’s note: Throughout the next several weeks, the Chamber will share features on members of the 2022 Board of Directors.
Who is your greatest inspiration?
My grandson, Gunner, and granddaughter, Gracelyn inspire me because of their innocence and their devotion to their family and particularly to their Poppy and Lollie! Their presence in my life reminds me of how much I was inspired by my granddad; Earl Franklin (former Jenks resident) who was a welder and a farmer who typified our state motto: “labor conquers all.” He was the hardest working man I have even known … sun-up to sun-down; he was always working to provide and to make lasting connections for his family.
My father was killed in an industrial welding accident where he fell from a water tower in Texas when I was only 4 years old and my brother 2, and my grandad always used to tell me that I reminded him of my dad who died way to young. He would tell me stories of how my dad was hard working and committed to his family, and then he would say, “you look just like my boy, and I am proud of you.”
What is the best advice you’ve received?
Hall of Fame Educator and friend Lloyd Snow: “Tell it straight up, and don’t let them see you sweat.”
Why did you decide to serve on the Chamber board?
I am an educator for Tulsa Tech, and our strategic mission statement reminds that we educate people for the workplace. Tulsa Tech has a large footprint in Jenks at our Riverside campus, and we hope that students from around the region take advantage of what the Jenks community has to offer. Additionally, I attended Jenks High School, I attended a private kindergarten program with beloved Ms. Neusbaum, and my parents have lived in the same Jenks home since 1975. Suffice to say, the Jenks community has been a formative part of my life.
I can remember a discussion and concern about the Creek Turnpike coming through Jenks, and there were many folks who railed against the traffic and the environmental concerns that would come along with such. I remember the flooding issues that were ever present in Jenks from a longer time ago when my grandparents had a trailer home in Jenks. I say all of this to remind that the progress of Jenks and the economic vitality and the livability of the Jenks Community does not simply happen; rather, it takes convenors and visionary leadership to keep a community moving forward and to bolster the economic conditions and the indices of livability conditions that are all supported and encouraged by the local Jenks Chamber of Commerce.
