Inducted: 2014
CAROLYN ESTES (1943- ), marketing director at the Oologah Lake Leader, has built a statewide and national reputation for her Newspapers in Education work, including a nationally syndicated column for weekly newspapers. She joined the Leader in 1982 as reporter and photographer and developed the NIE programs. She’s won numerous awards from the Oklahoma Press Association, including the President’s Award, and she serves on the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation board. She’s written three 8-chapter serial stories for newspapers. She’s most known for her almost endless volunteer work—for the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, Senior Citizens and other organizations. She’s past president of the chamber of commerce, was citizen of the year in 2001, received the town’s Community Spirit Award and Spirit of Will Rogers Award and the OEA Marshall Gregory Award. The Oologah town board honored her with a Carolyn Estes Day.
