Charles Wesley Jenkins III passed away October 19, 2018 in Dallas from complications following surgery. Charles was born April 4, 1951 in Stillwater, Oklahoma to Charles and Letty Jo Jenkins. Charles grew up in Oklahoma and Texas and spent most of his youth in Waco, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Arlington.
As a sophomore in college, Charles began his career as a co-op engineering student for Dallas Power & Light. After graduating from UTA with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he became a full-time employee, and held a variety of engineering, management and officer positions.
After working for the other former TXU companies, he came back to Oncor in 2003 to head Transmission Grid Management. In November 2009, he was elected Chief Operating Officer. While at TXU Energy he was a proponent of the use of wind as a renewable energy source, supporting the construction of wind farms in West Texas and the eventual purchase of energy from those farms. Under his leadership Oncor began the largest infrastructure project in the company's history with the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones project, which built transmission lines to deliver energy from the wind farms in West Texas to the metropolitan areas of Texas.
He was also a registered professional engineer in Texas. Over his career he contributed to many industry organizations, including serving as a director on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas board, a director of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies board, a member of the North American Reliability Corporation operating and planning committees, chair of Edison Electric Institute transmission committee, a member of the Electric Power Research Institute power delivery executive advisory committee, and a member of the industry leadership council for the Consortium for Electric Reliability
His civic activities included being an adult leader with Boy Scouts of America and serving as a director on the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas board.
Charles was also an Eagle Scout and subsequently served as an assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 380 in Arlington for several years. He truly embraced the duties of an Eagle to give back and mentor young Scouts and help them achieve their goals. He was a dedicated mentor who positively affected the lives of numerous young men.
After 40 years in the utility industry, he retired in April 2012. Following retirement, he served on the Board of Directors for the Wilbros Corporation. In his retirement, Charles split his time between Arlington and Durango, CO. He loved southwestern Colorado and driving the trails on the Alpine Loop in the San Juan Mountains. Charles was an avid sports car enthusiast and for many years enjoyed riding his Harleys.
Charles is survived by his wife of 46 years, Patricia, daughter Amy and her husband Chris Brown and grandson Brodie of Alexandria, VA, son Charles of Geneva, Switzerland, his mother Jo Jenkins, sister Sandra Blackmon, brother Kevin Jenkins, and many nieces and nephews. Charles was preceded in death by his father, Charles W. Jenkins Jr.
In lieu of flowers donations maybe made to UTSW Medical Center, https://engage.utsouthwestern.edu/donate-now and the Boy Scouts of America.
Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, December 29, 2018 at Moore Funeral Home, 1219 N. Davis, Arlington, TX 76012.
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