Carolyn Jane Brinkley, born in Ochelata, Oklahoma, on May 22, 1937, to Cleo and Elnora (Watters) Fifer, left this earth on September 8, 2026.

Carolyn attended Collinsville Public Schools, where she excelled in basketball and was proud to be the only girl to receive a letter jacket. She and her 1955 Classmates (the Nifty Fifty Group) remained close, and she was excited to attend her 70th Class Reunion.

Carolyn was proud to be from Collinsville and was committed to her community. She served on the Collinsville Education Foundation, as Director of the Miss Collinsville pageant, and she was proud that Miss Collinsville 1998, Julie Payne Coody, was crowned Miss Oklahoma and placed in the Top Ten at Miss America. She was an active member of the Home Representative Club for 54 years and served as its president four times. She also volunteered with the Mission on Main Street in Collinsville.

Her community work focused on improving education and opportunities for Collinsville youth and supporting those in need. She also loved her Sunday School Class at the Collinsville Freewill Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Cleo and Elnora (Watters) Fifer; her husband, Donald Daniel Brinkley; her brothers, Ronald and Donald Fifer; and her son-in-law, Norman Stevens. She is survived by her children: Rick Brinkley of Oklahoma City, Rhonda Stevens of Tulsa, and Rebecca “Rusti” Howard and her husband, Chuck, of Collinsville. In addition to grandchildren: John Gaebel (Rachel) of Tulsa, Tyler Howard (Brittany) of Pryor, Stacey Frye (Marshall) of Tulsa, Summer Stevens of Chicago, and Brinkley Howard of Collinsville. Great-grandchildren: Cristian “Pie” Gaebel (Riley) of Houston, Morgan Gaebel of Tulsa, Maxwell Jones of Tulsa, Trueman and LilyAnn Howard of Pryor, Brooks Frye of Tulsa, and her sister, Joan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.