Jack Carson

Jack Rogers Carson, age 91, passed away on May 23, 2022. He was born in Stilwell, Oklahoma, on June 26, 1930. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jimmie Ruth Adair Carson, and he is survived by his two sons: Dr. Chris Carson of Dallas, Texas, and Brad Carson of Tulsa, Oklahoma, along with a beloved daughter-in law Julie and a grandson Jack David Carson.

Jack was the son of Frank and Osie Carson. He attended Oklahoma A&M, where he majored in animal husbandry. After ranching as a young man, he decided he would try to make a career in the western United States. He started work for an oil company in Stratford, Texas, before becoming an agricultural extension agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Thereafter, Jack spent nearly two decades working on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and New Mexico, living in towns like Fort Defiance, Winslow, and Holbrook. He would lead one of the first Job Corps centers in the United States in Winslow, Arizona, before moving to a job on the reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Subsequently, he would become superintendent of the Kickapoo, Pottawatomie, and Sac & Fox reservations in northeastern Kansas.

In 1981, Jack and his family returned to Oklahoma, settling in Tulsa, where he continued his work with the Department of the Interior. After retiring, he took loving care of his wife, who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. For over 40 years, he rarely missed a day at the St. Francis HealthZone. He loved horses, cattle, his wife, and his two sons. He will be laid to rest in New Hope Cemetery in Stilwell, Oklahoma, at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 26, 2022, alongside five generations of his family.