The Rev. Dr. Carol J. Jablonski

The Rev. Dr. Carol J. Jablonski passed away on June 19, 2023, at an Asheville, NC hospice after a brief illness. Her intelligence, insight, wit, grace, and compassion were known to many, both within the Communication discipline and outside it. Her life as a teacher, scholar, and Episcopal priest was rich and multifaceted.

Born in Milwaukee, WI, on July 12, 1951, Carol earned her BA in English from Allegheny College (1973), her MA in Communication from Purdue University (1975), and her PhD in Communication, also from Purdue (1979). Carol served on the faculties of the University of Virginia (1978-1981), Indiana University (1981-1986), and the University of South Florida (1986-2005), with two semesters at Wake Forest University as a Visiting Associate Professor (1990-1991).

Carol taught a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Rhetorical Theory and Criticism, Rhetoric and Social Change, and the Rhetoric of the Sixties. Her publications focused on leadership in times of social and institutional tumult, including three articles in The Quarterly Journal of Speech. She received grants from USF and the University of Notre Dame for her work on Dorothy Day, the twentieth century radical whose advocacy for peace prompted her incarceration on numerous occasions, and whose actions on behalf of the poor made her a saint to many.

Carol actively engaged in university service and leadership, particularly in program development and curricular reform during her years in the professorate. Having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate, it was a privilege for her to have been part of a decades-long effort on the part of many faculty and administrators to improve the undergraduate curriculum at USF and (eventually) secure a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for the university.

While at USF, Carol married her best friend and the love of her life, John Tyler Jones, in 1987. Together they explored many state and national parks, as well as the joys of making a home in the various places they lived. A technical writer and IT manager, Ty was later ordained as a vocational deacon in the Episcopal Church.

In a move that stunned many, given her professorial success, Carol’s profound faith led her to leave the Academy to answer a call to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. She received her MDiv Cum Laude from Virginia Theological Seminary (Harris Prize, 2006). As part of her preparation for ministry, she served as a chaplain intern at Duke Medical Center. Carol was ordained to the diaconate in June 2006 and was ordained to the priesthood by The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry in February 2007. During these years Carol continued to teach Communication classes at George Washington University and at North Carolina State University. Carol served in multiple priestly roles at St. Stephen’s in Durham, NC; as Rector at St. Andrew’s, in College Park, MD; as Interim Priest-in-Charge at St. George’s in Asheville, NC, and as Interim Rector at St. James, in Hendersonville, NC. She also served as a supply priest at six other congregations in this area. Her last celebrations of the Holy Eucharist occurred on Easter Sunday of this year.

Carol became a quilter in her later years, embracing a hobby which brought her much joy. She also enjoyed hiking, knitting, cooking, icon writing, and reading widely, leaving the gardening and the cleaning to her husband, Ty, who survives her.

The family requests that memorials be directed to Manna Foodbank, Asheville, NC.

A Celebration of Life Service in her remembrance will be held at The Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village, Asheville, on Saturday, October 28 at 11:00 a.m., with the Rt. Rev. José McLoughlin presiding and the Rev. Dn. Ty Jones preaching. The livestream of the service may be viewed on the church’s YouTube channel.