Harper County,
Oklahoma
Biographies Jane Anne Jayroe was born on October 30, 1947 to Pete
Jayroe and Helene Smith Jayroe in Clinton, Oklahoma. Jane
grew up in Sentinel
and Laverne,
Oklahoma. She has one
older sister,
a teacher and mother
of three
in
Follett,
Texas, Judy
Jayroe
Elmore. As a student at Oklahoma City
University, she entered the University’s pageant
through
her sorority, Alpha Chi
Omega, and
then went on to win the
Miss Oklahoma Pageant. Then, at
the
age of
19, and with no
previous
pageant experience, Jane was crowned Miss America,
1967.
She sang and conducted the
orchestra for her
talent.
After being
crowned Miss America
1967, Jane
traveled all around the world and was even able
to travel
to Vietnam to entertain
America’s troops abroad. Jane became a
well-recognized and respected primetime news anchor
for
KOCO and KTVY (now KFOR)
in
Oklahoma
City and KXAS in
Dallas.
She won several awards during her
16-year
career
including the first
female to be awarded “Outstanding News Personality”
in the
Dallas television market. She
also hosted a
health-related
public
affairs
show, "Health Matters" on
Oklahoma's PBS network, OETA. Jayroe later went
on
to co-host a popular television
show, Discover Oklahoma promoting
tourism within
the state of
Oklahoma. She also served as
Secretary of
Tourism in
the Cabinet of Governor
Frank
Keating. In 1992, Jayroe become the first
spokesperson for the Oklahoma Health Center and Vice
President of the
Presbyterian
Health
Foundation. She
was the
first woman elected Chairman
of the Oklahoma
Academy for State
Goals and is on
executive committees for the
University of
Oklahoma Breast Health Institute, Oklahoma
City University
Board
of Trustees and the Oklahoma Health
Center Foundation. As a member of the United
Methodist
Church Church of the
Servant in Oklahoma City, Jayroe is on the
Women's
Ministries Team and a board
member for the
Education and
Employment
Ministries. She has taken
an
active role in issues affecting young people,
serving as
honorary chair for the
Conference on Teen Pregnancy, Youth Arts Month
and the
Oklahoma Parents and
Teachers Association.
She is a
former trustee
of the Sarkey's
Foundation, and
was appointed by Gov. George Nigh to the
commission on the
Status of Women,
by Gov. Henry Bellmon to chair "Oklahoma
Reunion
'89" and to the
Legislative Compensation Board by
Gov.
David
Walters. A major street
in her childhood
hometown of Laverne, Oklahoma was
renamed in her
honor.
Jayroe
is the author of several articles appearing
in
McCall's and other
publications such as Out
of
the
Blue,
Delight Comes Into Your Life and
Chicken Soup for the Mother's
Soul. She was
producer for
"Daily Devotionals," A set of audiocassettes by
area
ministers and laypeople and
recently created a
seminar for
women
titled,
Living Grace-fully.Her most
current publications include More Grace Than
Glamour:
My Life as Miss America and
Beyond, and Oklahoma 3, a book
published for
the Centennial year of
Oklahoma’s statehood
and portraying
the
diversity of the state.
Jane
Jayroe Gamble currently resides with her
husband, Gerald
Gamble, in Oklahoma
City. She is mother to Tyler Jayroe, a
graduate of
Vanderbilt University.
Tyler currently lives
in New Jersey
with wife
Elaine, and children Luke
and
Maya. She also has four wonderful great nieces:
Hannah
Colclazier, Dita Grace
Wieser, Kess Wieser, and Ava Wieser and two
amazing great
nephews: Daxx Jayroe
Wieser and Jayden
Wieser. As of
November 2007 Jane has been inducted
into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Not only is
this one of
the highest, if not the
highest, honor any Oklahoman can receive,
but also Jane
was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in the
State Centennial
year.
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