Jane Anne Jayroe-Gamble (born October 30, 1946) is a well known broadcaster, author and public official and former American

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

from Laverne,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, who was

Miss Oklahoma The Miss Oklahoma competition selects a winner to compete on behalf of Oklahoma in the Miss America pageant. Miss Oklahoma has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Also, in the years when city representatives were common, Norma Smallwo ...

in 1966 and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

in 1967. Jayroe worked as an anchor in TV news in Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth broadcast media markets for 16 years. Later,

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (initially born as David Rowland Keating) (born February 10, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five governors in Okl ...

appointed her to serve as his Secretary of Tourism and Recreation in his Cabinet. She served in that position from 1999 until 2003. Jayroe has authored numerous articles and books and was spokesman for The Presbyterian Health Foundation.

Early life and education

Jane Anne Jayroe was born on October 30, 1946 to Pete Jayroe and Helene Smith Jayroe in

Clinton, Oklahoma Clinton is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, Custer and Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The community began in 1899 when ...

. Jayroe grew up in

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

and

Laverne, Oklahoma Laverne is a town in Harper County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,223 at the 2020 census. History Laverne's origin is traced to John Mollman's homestead, which he established in 1903. The site was then in Woodward County, Oklahom ...

. She has one older sister, Judith Jayroe Wieser Elmore.

Pageantry

Miss America 1967 Jane Jayroe Poster, cropped

As a student at

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and doctor ...

, she entered the university’s pageant through her sorority,

Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across ...

, and then went on to win the

Pageant. Then, at the age of 19, and with no previous pageant experience, Jane was crowned

Miss America 1967 Miss America 1967, the 40th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1966. It was televised in the United States on NBC. Although an entry representing the city of Tulsa had been victorio ...

. She sang with and conducted an orchestra for her talent. After being crowned Miss America 1967, she traveled around the world and traveled to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

to entertain America’s troops abroad.

Professional career

News industry

Jane became a well-recognized and respected

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

for KOCO and KTVY (now

KFOR-TV KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside independent station KAUT-TV (channel 43). Both stations share studios in Oklahoma ...

) in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

and

KXAS KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division along ...

in Dallas/Fort Worth. She won several awards during her 16-year career including the first female to be awarded “Outstanding News Personality” in the Dallas-Fort Worth television market. She also hosted a health-related public affairs show, "Health Matters" on Oklahoma's

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

network, OETA. Jayroe later went on to co-host a popular television show, ''Discover Oklahoma'' promoting tourism within the state of Oklahoma.

Health advocacy

In 1992, Jayroe become the first spokesperson for the Oklahoma Health Center and Vice President of the Presbyterian Health Foundation.

Civic work

She was the first woman elected Chairman of the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals and is on executive committees for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

Breast Health Institute,

Board of Trustees and the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation. As a member of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

Church of the Servant in

, 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 for the Sarkey's Foundation.

Government service

George Nigh George Patterson Nigh (born June 9, 1927) is an American politician and civic leader from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd governor of Oklahoma and as the eighth and tenth lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. He was th ...

appointed Jayroe to the

Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women was created by the Oklahoma State Legislature in 1994. Made up of thirty members, one-third are appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, one-third are appointed by the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Se ...

. Governor

David Walters David Lee Walters (born November 20, 1951) is an American politician who was the 24th governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Born in Canute, Oklahoma, Walters was a project manager for Governor David Boren and the youngest executive officer w ...

appointed her to the

Oklahoma Board on Legislative Compensation The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 st ...

Other honors

Jayroe Gamble was inducted into the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in the state centennial year. A street in her childhood hometown of

was renamed in her honor.

Keating Administration

Following his reelection as governor,

appointed Jayroe as his Secretary of Tourism and Recreation. In addition to her service as tourism secretary, Keating appointed Jayroe to serve as the Director of the

Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation is a department of the government of Oklahoma within the Tourism and Branding Cabinet. The Department is responsible for regulating Oklahoma's tourism industry and for promoting Oklahoma as a tour ...

Literary work

Jayroe is the author of several articles appearing in ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-for ...

'' 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.

Personal life

She currently resides with her husband, Gerald Gamble, in

. She has one son, Tyler Jayroe (born 1976).

References

External links

Jane Jayroe Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayroe, Jayne Anne 1947 births Living people Heads of Oklahoma state agencies Miss America 1960s delegates Miss America Preliminary Talent winners Miss America winners Television anchors from Oklahoma City Oklahoma City University alumni People from Clinton, Oklahoma People from Harper County, Oklahoma Writers from Oklahoma City People from Washita County, Oklahoma State cabinet secretaries of Oklahoma Women in Oklahoma politics Politicians from Oklahoma City American women television journalists 20th-century American people Beauty queen-politicians 21st-century American women