Roll Call Tribute

Michael Larry "Mike" Caswell 

January 17, 1947 - September 21, 2024 

Michael L. Caswell, a storied and story-filled figure whose decades-long career as a professional engineer played out against the go-for-broke, sink-or-swim fortunes of the speculative oil and gas industry in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, died on September 21—the same day his father passed. He was 77.

Caswell, a loving husband and proud father of four, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head trauma – most likely caused by his early football days in high school and college.

Born in Morgan City, La., on Jan. 17, 1947, Caswell was destined to live a life fueled by a passion to drill. The son of an oil and gas worker raised in an oil patch town, Caswell was one of the last of a dying breed of wildcatters with oil rig crude coursing through his veins. On his own and with partners, he built a successful career, tackling it with the same fearless tenacity he applied to his days on the gridiron at A&M. As middle linebacker, wearing #51, he helped lead the Southwest Conference Championship Aggie team to ultimately defeat Alabama’s Crimson Tide in the iconic Cotton Bowl Classic, played on Jan. 1, 1968. That epic showdown, the crowning event of the 1967 bowl game season, became a defining moment in Aggie history and remained a touchstone for Caswell throughout his life.

And it was a challenging life – one Caswell met with no small measure of gusto and self-assuredness. In Houston, he wasn’t raised in a realm of privilege. He fought hard for what he earned. And those fights as a youngster were often physical. After years of a migratory oilfield upbringing, his parents bought a home on the north side of Houston so that Mike could attend M.B. Smiley High School, where Caswell was no stranger to scrapes. But as a linebacker for Smiley’s football team, he earned distinction and eventually a football scholarship to A&M, graduating with a degree in petroleum engineering in 1969. He went straight to work offshore, setting in motion a long and lucrative career in the energy industry.

While working for Tenneco Oil Company in Lafayette, La., in 1971, he met Barbara Daigle, an Opelousas native also working for the oil and gas company. They were married in 1972, eventually moving to Tulsa in 1974, where Caswell found work with Williams Brothers, now the Williams Companies. The Caswells made their way to Houston in 1979 where Caswell partnered in NRG Resources, an oil and gas company, and later CasKids Operating Company, an oil and natural gas exploration production company he founded in 1983.

In Houston, he found a comfortable niche where his passions for work, family, and friends could play out. With their fingers on the pulse of many facets of work and social life of the Energy Capital of the World, the Caswells were adept at creating a joyous lifestyle while also raising four colorful, intellectually curious children.

Friends were drawn to the Caswell's home where those memorable parties often featured crawfish boils and zydeco bands. Together, Michael and Barbara proved to be an unstoppable team, channeling their relentless energies into parenting, fundraising and charity work, high school sports, coaching, supporting their church, and lending a helping hand to anyone in need.

It was a perfect milieu for Caswell. In Houston, he lived hard and played hard with an inexhaustible energy, boundless humor and a gift for finding commonality in disparate threads within a sprawling city.

Although raised as a Methodist, he converted to Catholicism—Barbara’s faith—and was confirmed in 1986 alongside two of his children at Holy Rosary Catholic Church under the watchful eye of Fr. Victor Brown. As part of the process, Mike chose St. Jude, the patron saint of hope and lost causes, as his confirmation name. This choice reflected his own commitment to helping those in need. 

Caswell was an active fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, chairing countless galas, and raising millions for the life-threatening disorder. He helped build and expand The Briar Club, the sanctuary-like River Oaks country club, having served as its president and a member of its board of directors. He was an avid supporter of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He was as proud of his membership in the prestigious Petroleum Club of Houston as he was of his honorarium as a distinguished alum of M.B. Smiley High School.

His skill within the oil and gas industry afforded Caswell and his family a comfortable life, filled with travel, adventure, memorable family vacations, and the ability to generously entertain family and friends.

But as good as he was in business, he was just as good at giving. His benevolence was profound. His family members have lost count of people who have told them that Caswell bailed them out of family emergencies, funded educations, paid off student loan debts and hospital bills. He reveled in his silent generosity, often saying, “That’s what money is for.”

To anyone who met him, Michael Caswell was imposing and impressive; a man not easily forgotten. He cut a memorable figure with his dark sideburns and mustachioed grin, cowboy threads and Gilley’s swagger. A jokester, rabble rouser and loud people pleaser, Caswell was an avid hunter and fisher, an enthusiastic Astros fan, a devoted reader, and a practiced teller of tall tales. 

Whether through his generosity, tireless work ethic, or willingness to step in when others needed him most, Michael embodied the spirit of St. Jude, always fighting for those facing the hardest challenges. Michael Caswell will be remembered as a larger-than-life figure; a man of integrity, compassion and open-handedness.

He is preceded by his father, Olin Arthur Caswell, and mother, Bertie Bea (Evans) Caswell. He is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Barbara Gayle (Daigle) Caswell; and children Bryan Christopher Caswell of Houston (partner Erin Michelle Hicks, daughter Kennedy Gayle Caswell, son Bryan Allen Jennings Caswell), Courtney Evans Caswell of New York City, Michael Jude Delong Caswell of Mustang, Ok. (wife Kirsten Caswell, son Damian Michael Caswell, step-daughters Katelynn, Evelyn, and Cecilia), and Mary Charlotte Elizabeth Hebert (husband Joshua Paul Hebert, son Owen Paul Hebert, daughter McKenna Marie Hebert) of Spring, Tx. He also leaves behind three sisters (Bettye Carnahan, Billie Jean Goodman, Cheryl Richards), and many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews.

The Caswell family extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to the compassionate caregivers at the Silverado Community, especially Amy Womack, as well as the kindness and support of Mr. Brady Robles, Mrs. Araceli Sandoval and Mrs. Esperanza Menendez.

Services to honor Mike will be held as follows:
Saturday, September 28, 2024: Mike will be laid to rest at 10 a.m. at Bellevue Memorial Park in Opelousas, La., St. Landry Parish.

Monday, September 30, 2024: A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m., at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 2140 Westheimer Rd, Houston, Tx 77098, followed by a celebration of life at St. Basil’s Hall, adjacent to the church, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Mike's name to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Gulf Coast Chapter.