John D. Caruthers, Jr.
| John DeWitt Caruthers, Jr. (Shreveport attorney, oil businessman, and philanthropist) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | January 28, 1929 Shreveport, Louisiana | ||
| Died | January 3, 2025 (aged 95) Shreveport, Louisiana | ||
| Spouse | Jane Rhodes Caruthers
Children: | ||
| Religion | United Methodist | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Service/branch | United States Army | ||
| Rank | First lieutenant | ||
| Battles/wars | Cold War in Germany | ||
John DeWitt Caruthers, Jr. (January 28, 1929 – January 3, 2025), was a prominent attorney, businessman, oilman, and philanthropist from his native Shreveport, Louisiana. He was considered "one of the last great wildcatters of three-state region including Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana.[1]
Background
Caruthers graduated in 1946 from C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, at which he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball and was editor of the Byrd High Life campus newspaper and president of his senior class. He graduated in 1950 from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston with a bachelor's degree. In 1986, Louisiana Tech awarded him an honorary doctor’s degree from Louisiana Tech because of his civic contributions. He was also president of the freshman and sophomore classes while he attended the institution.[2]
In 1953, he received his Juris Doctorate from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in Baton Rouge.[2]
Career
From 1953 to 1956, he as a member of the United States Army's Judge Advocate General’s Corps; he was a first lieutenant with the Fifth Infantry Division, which earlier was the army of occupation in Augsburg, Germany. In this capacity, he prosecuted and defended capital murder cases. Upon returning to civilian life, he served as the assistant city attorney for prosecutions at Shreveport City Court and later was the attorney for the Caddo Levee Board.[2]
In 1963, he followed his father, John D. Caruthers, Sr. (1905-1961), who had died two years earlier, into the oil and gas industry. He established Caruthers Operating Co., Inc., and Caruthers Producing Co., Inc. He was a co-owner of the former Shreveport Captains baseball team and brought to Shreveport its first gambling casino boat, the River Rose, which was constructed in Florida.[1] His mother, the former Veva Louise Ozley (1907-1990), married the late Dr. Leonard Cooke after the death of Caruthers' father.[2]
In 1973, during a stint as the president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, he arranged a meeting with then United States Senator Russell Long, then U.S. Representative Joe Waggonner, former Shreveport Mayor James C. Gardner and Albert Bourland, Jr., a fraternity brother of Caruthers who at the time was the administrative assistant to the president of General Motors. As a result of that meeting, GM committed to building an automobile plant in Shreveport, which subsequently closed in August 2012.[2]
He launched the Caruthers Operating Co., Inc., in 1963 and the Caruthers Producing Co., Inc., in 1983. He was a co-owner of the Shreveport Captains baseball team. In 1984, he had the paddle wheeler, River Rose, built in Florida, brought to Shreveport, where it operated for several years on the Red River. He and his wife, the former Jane Rhodes, donated the seven bronze statues that grace Spirit Park at Louisiana Tech University in honor of his parents, both of whom attended Louisiana Tech.[2]
He was a United Methodist, the founding president of the Louisiana Tech Alumni Foundation, a member of the Board of Community Renewal, an associate of the Shreveport Montessori School, Southfield School Board of Trustees, Shreveport Mental Health Center, Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, and the Community Foundation of Northwest Louisiana. For eighteen years, he served as the founding president of the I-69 Mid-Continent Highway Coalition. He was named "Mr. Shreveport" in 1985. He was also the first recipient of Louisiana Tech Distinguished Service Award, and in 2006 was named "Louisiana Tech Alumnus of the Year." He was a past vice president of the United Way, and he acted as chairman of the drive to establish the popular American Rose Center in Shreveport.
Death and legacy
A memorial service was held on January 7, 2025, at Noel Memorial United Methodist Church, with Dr. Pat Day, former senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Shreveport, and the Reverend Kaylan Walker, associate pastor of Noel Memorial United Methodist Church, officiating. He is interred at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport.
Chris Kinsey, the chief operating officer of Kinsey Interests, an oil and gas company in Shreveport., said that the passing of Caruthers "represents the passing of an era. You know, that's sad to see, because things have changed so much here in the last fifteen years or so in the oil and gas business. But there are very few people like him. There are very few people like him left, and now we've lost one of the great ones. He was never shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions. And he was the kind of person that was a great sounding board. You could, if you had a something you were pondering civic or business, you could go to him."[1]
Caruthers had four children, Ann Caruthers Hirsch of Leigh, Texas, Charles DeWitt Caruthers and Sheila Caruthers Pernici, both of Shreveport, and Andrew Rollins Caruthers of Los Angeles, California.[2]