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

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

from Laverne,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, 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 Smallw ...

in 1966 and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

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 gover ...

Frank Keating 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 and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 8,521 at the time of the 2020 census. History The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E. Blake, decided to locate a town i ...

. 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 granit ...

and Laverne, Oklahoma. She has one older sister, Judith Jayroe Wieser Elmore.

Pageantry

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 docto ...

, she entered the university’s pageant through her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, 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. 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, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

to entertain America’s troops abroad.

Professional career

News industry

Jane became a well-recognized and respected

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

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 KAUT-TV (channel 43), an owned-and-operated station of The CW. The two stations share stu ...

) in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

and

KXAS KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongs ...

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 broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

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 Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

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 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 S ...

. Governor David Walters appointed her to the Oklahoma Board on Legislative Compensation.

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 Laverne, Oklahoma, was renamed in her honor.

Keating Administration

Following his reelection as governor, Frank Keating 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 government agency, department of the government of Oklahoma within the Tourism and Branding Cabinet. The Department is responsible for regulating Oklahoma's tourism industry and for promotin ...

Literary work

Jayroe is the author of several articles appearing in ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, 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. The publication ...

'' 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 Beauty queen-politicians 20th-century Oklahoma politicians 21st-century American women 20th-century American women politicians