October 3, 1946 – March 7, 2022
Richard Leon Jenkins, born 1946 in Ft. Collins, Co, was raised in Cary, NC by Wylodine and Lloyd Jenkins. A proud graduate of Davidson College, Richard’s early years took him many places including a significant amount of time in Australia in the early 1970s. In 1976 he moved to Houston and decided to call it home, having never left until his death in 2022. Richard enjoyed city life. Always being ahead of the times, he found residence in the Houston Heights in the 1970s, and became one of Downtown Houston’s first loft residents in 1996.
Richard was an entrepreneur, voracious reader, lover of music, and an avid traveler. But most of all, Richard was a family man who dedicated most of his time for those he loved most. Whether it was taking his son to see baseball stadiums across the country, showing his childhood memories of South Dakota to his stepdaughter Jessica, or walking the Appian Way in Rome with his wife Donna, he experienced life through travel and making memories. He enriched those around him with his desire to always be learning and teaching.
Richard is survived by his wife, Donna Amador Walton and her two sons Grant and Spencer; his son John Travis Jenkins with his wife Whitney Jenkins and their sons Brooks and Bennett; his stepdaughter Jessica Anderson; his beloved aunt Joanne Garnett; and his sister, Lynda Anne Shipley. He was preceded in death by his parents Wylodine Reeves Jenkins and Lloyd Theodore Jenkins; his aunt Anette M. Jenkins; and his brother Thomas Allan Jenkins.