Larry Stanley Jenkins

Larry Stanley Jenkins was a man of profound character and solid values. He was determined, hard-working, strong and passionate about his family. He often told stories about his childhood and the troubles he overcome as a young man. He would always talk highly of his fourth grade teacher that helped him learn to read and write. At the age of 13, he taught himself how to master the yo-yo and entered himself into a competition and won his first bicycle by performing the “walking the dog” trick. He was a very skilled athlete in the sports of basketball and football. That athletic nature and determined personality that led him to joining the Navy as soon as he was able, even though he was colorblind. When asked how he was able to get past the colorblind test, he would always respond that he just asked the guy in front of him for the answers. He served on the ship USS Valley Forge.

In 1957, at the age of 17, he married the love of his life Donna Jenkins. Just this past June they celebrated their 68th anniversary. In the early years of their marriage, Stanley and Donna had four beautiful children: Larry Stanley Jenkins Jr, Stanley Lee Jenkins, Kimberly Diane Jenkins, and Elizabeth Anne Jenkins(spouse Lisa Davis and daughter Jade.) His children were his pride and joy. He worked hard to provide a life for his children, making sure that they never felt they had to go without. He was a role model for all of them showing what hard work and determination can bring to your life. He taught them important lessons of financial stability, family values, and dedication to whatever they pursued in life.

It was not long before his family grew and it grew very quickly. Stanley is survived by 28 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Who all remember him fondly as the sweet and loving grandfather that he was.

After successfully, completing his goal of retiring early at the age of 55 from the International Paper Board as Powerhouse Supervisor, Stanley spent his retirement years doing what he loved best: traveling to different casinos around the country. He was a slot machine master and quickly became well known by the staff at casinos in Tunica, Mississippi and Cherokee, North Carolina. Stanley was very health conscious and was an avid runner. He ran 5 to 10 miles a day for years and did over 100 push-ups every single day until he was 83 years old- he then said he could only make it to 50 pushups per day. If you ask anyone, he was very meticulous and particular. He kept record of everything in his life, including how many miles he ran so he was able to pinpoint the exact day that he ran enough miles to make it around the world. He was a creature of habit, keeping with his same daily routine. He would wake up earlier than everyone in the house around 4 AM and make coffee making sure to drink it out of the same mug every morning. It was a mug that his granddaughter Jade got for him from her travels from South Africa. Which is just another example of how proud he was of his family. He ate bran cereal out of a coffee mug with a spoon every morning and would spend some time on the computer playing solitaire. Stanley was always the one to make sure everything and everyone was taken care of around the house. Whether it was filling his wife’s gas tank up before family vacations or making sure he had a bag to collect wrapping paper at Christmas.

The void that has been left behind by his passing is something that his friends and family will never be able to get over. But his legacy and lifelong lessons that have been passed down from generation to generation will continue to thread all of us together. As his family, we consider ourselves immensely grateful and completely humbled to have a man like Stanley be such an important part of our lives.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Milford and Dorothy Jenkins, his brother Charles Jenkins and his infant son Larry Stanley Jenkins Jr (1958).

As his granddaughter, it has been a complete honor to write this excerpt about him. Papa was and will always be an important building block of who I am as a person, as a daughter and as a soon to be mother to my own son, who I hope grows up to be just like his great grandfather. There will never be another man like my Papa. Jade Davis Talley