Oliver Joseph Jaros III

1945 - 2025

Oliver Joseph Jaros III

May 7, 1945 - Mar 7, 2025

Oliver Joseph Jaros III, known to his family and friends as Joe, passed away on March 7, 2025, in College Station, Texas after a brief illness. Joe was born in Ballinger, Texas to Mary Jo Jaros (Hoffman) and Oliver Joseph Jaros Jr. on May 7, 1945, the day before the Germans surrendered in World War Two. Although Joe's father had died in that war, he would be blessed with an amazing stepfather, Garlyn Hoffman, who helped Mary Jo raise both Joe and his brother David. The family moved to College Station TX when Joe was 8, as Garlyn took a job at the university through the Agricultural Extension Service, and Joe grew up in the university town that he would later come to call his home. Joe's mother would later earn a graduate degree there and go on to work at Texas A&M in the English department. His parents would instill in Joe a love of academia and learning which would last a lifetime.

Joe was a social butterfly from childhood, seeking out and then fostering life-long friendships with both neighbors and classmates, especially in the theatre, where he excelled in high school as an actor, playing roles as diverse as the lead in Charlie's Aunt and Prince Paul in Anastasia. Upon graduating from high school, Joe moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, where his love of history earned him both a bachelor's and master's degree in the field. But, most important of all, it was there that he met a beautiful young redhead Tri Delta named Carolyn Estes, who would go on to become his wife of fifty-six years.

Always a man for company, Joe was blessed to be welcomed with open arms by Carolyn's large, extended family, and he returned that love in equal measure. Joe especially cherished his role as brother-in-law to Arthur and Pat Estes and David and Marilyn Estes, as well as that of "Uncle Joe" to his nephews James and Randy, nieces Jennifer and Allison, and their families.

Together, Joe and Carolyn moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1969, where Joe went on to earn a master's degree in library science at the University of North Carolina as well as undertaking doctoral studies in British history. It was here that the couple welcomed their son Michael in 1976. Joe's love of archival research would lead to one of the great career opportunities of his life: to work as an archivist for the North Carolina State Archives in London, England on the Colonial Records Project. So, with a nine-month-old and his wife Carolyn, Joe moved across the Atlantic Ocean to London, where he didn't know a soul. Although daunting at first, Joe and Carolyn would look back upon their five years in London as among the most memorable of their lives. Joe's many accomplishments there included meeting Queen Elizabeth II at the Public Records Office, but more important than that were the lifelong friendships they made there, while at the same time continuing to foster their connections with friends and family far away. Time and again Joe demonstrated that distance and time didn't dissipate the room he always held in his heart for love and friendship.

In 1982 Joe and his family returned to his hometown, where he joined the faculty of Texas A&M as a reference librarian at Evans Library. Joe went on to earn tenure there and would later move across Wellborn Road to the Medical Sciences Library where he rose to the rank of Associate Director. Joe finished his career where he started it, with his passion for archives, as he worked on veterinary records and archives from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine.

To all who knew him, Joe was a huge, warm personality with a deep, booming, theatrical voice. His sense of humor was unparalleled, and the sound of his laughter always filled a room. He was an avid, life-long reader and unparalleled in his ability to tell a story. Joe was a lover of life's finer things, especially good food and cheer with his close family and friends. Soon after returning from England and finding a dearth of fine restaurants in town, Joe and Carolyn joined a gourmet club to which they would belong for forty years, making meals and fostering friendships that would last to the present day. Joe was most himself in company, around a table, with good conversation and camaraderie.

Perhaps the greatest community of all in Joe's life came from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, which he and his family began attending in 1982 on their return from England. In the 43 years of which he was a member of the church, Joe served on the vestry, taught in the Adult Forum Sunday school class, and served as a lay-reader and chalice bearer. He also kept up his life-long love of performance by singing in the St. Andrew's Choir for many years, where his fellow choir members remember the guiding, heartening, and full tenor voice that helped carry them along through many pieces of music.

Joe loved community, especially the communities he helped to create and grow. He was a mentor to many who shall never forget how much he meant to their lives; he was a father who was always there with sage advice in the chaos of life, who inspired his own son to go on to an academic career himself; he was a loving husband who was always there for Carolyn, either with a warm hand to hold, a boisterous laugh, or more of that sage wisdom in troubling times. Joe was always looking out for others, always going out of his way to make someone feel welcome.

Joe's revels, to slightly misquote Shakespeare, now are ended, but they shall always live on in those around him, those he inspired, those whose lives he touched, and those he loved; those people are not easy to number.

Joe is survived by his wife Carolyn of College Station; by his son Michael Jaros and wife Claudia Paraschiv of Salem, Massachusetts; by his grandchildren Crina and Sebastian Jaros, also of Salem; and by his cousins Jim Anderson of Fort Worth and Carol Anderson Gregg of Houston.

Joe's funeral service will take place at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Bryan Texas, 217 W. 26th St., on March 20, 2025, at 2 pm, followed by a reception at the church parish hall. His ashes will be inurned at the columbarium in the church that he loved, served, and was a parish member of for almost half a century.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of Bryan, the Bryan/College Station Habitat for Humanity, Hospice Brazos Valley, or a charity of one's choice.

Please visit www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share deepest condolences and expressions of gratitude for Joe and a life well lived.

Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan

2301 E. 29th St., Bryan, TX 77802