Francis P. Jenkins Jr.

Mr. Francis Plummer Jenkins, Jr., 78, of Boca Grande, Florida, passed away on October 3, 2020 after a brief illness.  

Mr. Jenkins was born on July 27th, 1942 in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, the son of Francis Plummer Jenkins and Scotland Virginia Clark Jenkins. The second of four children, Mr. Jenkins graduated from Aiken Preparatory School and Tarboro High School. He attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before graduating from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He remained very loyal to his alma matter, serving on the Board of Trustees as the Chairman of its Alumni and Development Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee.

Following his graduation from Babson, Mr. Jenkins began a distinguished career that spanned five-decades. He began his career in finance at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and took a brief leave to serve his country in the Army. From 1966 to 1979, Mr. Jenkins held roles at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co, F.S. Smithers and Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower before joining The First Boston Corporation.  From 1979 to 1988, he was employed by The First Boston Corporation where he was one of the four members of the Executive Committee, co-managed First Boston's Equity Capital Investments and held the role of Chief Administrative Officer.

Mr. Jenkins left First Boston in 1988 to focus on his family’s Tarboro, North Carolina-based agricultural business, W.S. Clark & Sons.  Under his helm as Chairman and CEO, the company grew from a regional firm, serving primarily Eastern North Carolina, to Royster-Clark, Inc. which became one of the largest retailers of fertilizers in the United States, at that time. The company eventually became traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and was acquired in 2006.

Mr. Jenkins’s career in the agricultural industry continued when he led the acquisition of Westway Terminals Corporation in 2009.  He served as Westway’s Chairman until the company was sold in 2013.

Although a native son of Tarboro, North Carolina, Mr. Jenkins was a long-time resident of Chappaqua, New York and Watch Hill, Rhode Island where he was an active member of The Watch Hill Yacht Club and The Misquamicut Club, serving as Treasurer and President.  He later moved to Boca Grande, Florida where he enjoyed meetings with the Boca Grande Economics Group and spending time at The Pass Club with friends and visiting grandchildren. 

Mr. Jenkins was deeply dedicated to his family and is survived by his wife of 55 years, Christie Virginia Lyall Jenkins; three children, Lindsay Jenkins Matthews (Paul Matthews), Francis Plummer Jenkins III (Nicole Tillinghast Jenkins), Elizabeth Jenkins Bretschger (Edward Bassett Bretschger, Jr.); and nine grandchildren, Paul Taylor Matthews Jr., Spencer Austin Matthews, Dixon Edward Matthews, Scotland Virginia Jenkins, Grace Anne Jenkins, James Fuller Jenkins, Louise Clark Bretschger, Edward Bassett Bretschger III, Frances Alden Bretschger; and three siblings, Louise Green Jenkins Maybank, Samuel Clark Jenkins, John Latham Jenkins II. 

A private service and was held on Friday, October 9, 2020.  

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to The Watch Hill Conservancy, One Bay Street, Westerly, Rhode Island and The San Miguel Academy of Newburgh, 245 Renwick Street, Newburgh, New York 12550

For online condolences please visit www.buckler-johnston.com