Carolyn Mae Tinnen

Born September 9, 1952, in Groveland, Florida, to Roy E. Jones and Bertie Shelley, Carolyn lived a life marked by intellectual curiosity, quiet strength, temperance and extraordinary kindness.

Carolyn relocated to the Tampa Bay area in 1970, earning a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the University of South Florida. It was at USF that Carolyn also met Michael Tinnen, whom she married in 1976. This May 22nd, the two would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

After graduating from USF, Carolyn began her career at Palms of Pasadena Hospital, working in the medical laboratory in diagnostics and specimen analysis. By the early 1980s, she had transitioned into the financial sector, joining Florida Federal Savings and Loan Bank. Towards the end of the decade, when the banking world began implementing mainframe computers, Carolyn taught herself to program, mastering over a dozen computer languages, most of which have long since passed into history. In the 1990s, as Y2K approached, her expertise was in high demand — she contracted with the Pinellas County School System, Florida Power, and others to help shepherd critical systems through one of the most anxious moments in computing history.

Carolyn's lifelong love of botany took center stage in her retirement years; she dedicated much of her time to tending her beloved garden, filled with an impressive array of citrus and tropical fruit, including navel oranges, grapefruit, starfruit, papaya, mango, lemon and lime trees.

Carolyn was a voracious reader with an appetite for any book she could get her hands on, as well as a deep lover of animals. A child of God, Carolyn attended services at Church by the Sea and was known by all who met her as a generous, gentle soul who exuded kindness and love. She is survived by her husband of nearly fifty years, Michael Tinnen (Florida); her daughter, Pamela Tinnen (New York); and her brother, Robert Jones (Georgia).

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Carolyn was beloved by so many. We invite you to share any memories — sweet, tender, or funny — along with photos, audio, or video, as part of a living archive in her honor.

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