Staff Spotlight, Jolynne Carlo

Jolynne Carlo

Curry Hammock State Park

Jolynne was born and raised in Texas and had a career as a music teacher while raising three children. In 2004, Jolynne and her husband, Ron, decided to visit the Florida Keys as resident volunteers at Curry Hammock State Park.

The Carlos were committed and hardworking team members who took great pride in their work and would rise to any challenge that crossed their paths. After two years of volunteering at Curry Hammock, Jolynne and Ron decided to permanently relocate to Marathon.

In 2012, Jolynne accepted a part-time ranger position at Curry Hammock and has been an indispensable member of our staff ever since. If you have ever visited the park on a weekend, chances are you have been greeted by Jolynne. For many years, she has worked weekends and holidays so that other staff members were able to spend time with their young families, often tackling some of the busiest shifts of the year.

Jolynne draws on years of experience as a teacher to help welcome and orient visitors to our park. Many of our return campers look forward to seeing a familiar, friendly face. Throughout her nine years at Curry Hammock, Jolynne's ability to maintain a positive attitude has been unwavering.

Outside of her work at Curry Hammock, Jolynne has always had a passion for music and nature-inspired art. She was a voice major along with being a highly skilled pianist at the University of North Texas and then went on to teach music for 13 years. Presently, Jolynne is honing her drawing and painting skills and finds much inspiration in the native plants and animals of the Florida Keys. She has been known to make customized greetings cards out of her artwork for family and friends.

Jolynne and husband enjoy cooking, baking bread, local live music, lunch, or happy hour at any local tiki bar, and RVing in Florida's state parks with their German shepherd, Spirit.