Carl Wayne Swan

Carl Wayne Swan, 89, of Oklahoma City, passed away after a two month battle with pneumonia and lung cancer at Integris Hospice House in Oklahoma City on May 22, 2015. He was born September 29, 1925 in King City, MO to Lottie M. Colville Swan and Orval Chester Swan.

Carl grew up in Caney, Kansas. His dream of becoming a football coach was temporarily set aside with the advent of World War II. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944, where he served as a flight engineer on a B-29 bomber. His flight crew trained out of a military base in Pyote, Texas, to drop an atomic bomb on Japan, however, they never got the call. After his military service, he traveled the country taking different jobs, such as logging in Oregon. In 1946 Carl attended Coffeyville Community Junior College in Coffeyville, KS on the GI Bill along with 40 other football players who had been in the service. He started at guard and was selected as All Conference on this undefeated team with a regular season record of 9-0. Carl had a job in the community working for Page Milk Company where he met his future wife, Nona Holt. He did not play on the 1947 team as he went to work in the Wyoming oil fields. The University of Wyoming put him on scholarship for the 1948 season, but before the season began, he was homesick and found a ride back to Coffeyville in time to play for the Ravens. As a captain, he led his team to a 9-0-1 season and the Ravens played in the Wheat Bowl against Hutchinson. He and two other players went on to play football for the University of New Mexico. In 2009 Carl was inducted into the Coffeyville Community College’s Hall of Fame. Carl once said, “Football helped me get through the good times, as well as the tough times in my life’s journey”.

After graduating, he was unsuccessful at securing a coaching job, however, Carl pursed other avenues that lead him back to the oil industry. He worked as Division Manager of Magcobar (the leading drilling fluids company of its day) for 12 years. In 1964 he started Basin Drilling, Inc. He took it public on the American Stock Exchange where he served as the President and Chairman of the Board. He later sold the company to form and obtain eight energy-related companies including Swan Petroleum, Longhorn Oil and Gas, Continental Drilling, High Plains Drilling, Denton Brothers Drilling and Intrepid Drilling. He built the Oil Center on Northwest Expressway in Oklahoma City. Although Carl always had his headquarters in Oklahoma City, his business interests were very extensive. His drilling and exploration companies were in all major oil producing states. He was also active in the Gulf of Mexico as well as Ecuador and Turkey. He was active in mining in Mexico as well as lumber in Honduras. At one time he maintained offices in Houston, Lafayette, Jackson, Casper, New York, London and Hong Kong. He was also active in ranching in Texas, Oklahoma and Utah.

Carl was known in race horse circles. He owned many Thoroughbred race horses including: Blushing Groom (French Champion 2 year old owned jointly with HRH Queen Elizabeth II and HH Aga Kahn IV). Carl had many friends throughout the world and was well liked by all, especially young people, many of whom he sponsored through college.

Carl enjoyed reminiscing about pheasant shooting in Ireland with his friends Phonsie and Vincent O’Brien (leading race horse trainers in Europe). He often told stories about times with his friend Sir Kenneth Fung in Hong Kong and how they visited mainland China together at a time when Americans were not allowed to visit. He enjoyed telling about having to have a custom “morning suit” made (he could not find one large enough in all of London) the day of the English Derby in order to be seated in HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s box. He liked to tell about his mining operation in Mexico where it took several hours by mule to reach the bottom of the mine and the time he had taken a box of New York strip steaks to grill only to have the Mexican cook make fajitas out of them. He had great memories about hunting quail in the Grand National Quail Hunt in Oklahoma with his friends Mike and Pat Rutherford from Houston. He enjoyed telling about borrowing the President of Honduras’s car and his chauffeur and how each time he went through a military check point and the soldiers thought he was the President and would salute him.

Carl is survived by his wife of 67 years, Nona Holt Swan of the home; son Mark Swan of Oklahoma City; nephews, Thomas “Tom” Edward Swan of Tulsa, John Kenneth Swan of Seattle, WA, Gary Southerland of Mountain Grove, MO and Larry Sutherland of Houston, TX and a niece, Susan Denise Swan Houston of Spokane, WA. Carl was preceded in death by his parents, Lottie C. Colville Swan and Orval Chester Swan; brother, Charles Edward Swan and one sister, Mable Swan Sutherland. Carl maintained a very special father/son relationship for almost 50 years with Jerry Novakowski of Oklahoma City, even though there was no blood relationship.

Memorial services will be held on Friday, June 5, 2015 at 2:00 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4400 N. Shartel Ave, Oklahoma City. In lieu of flowers, memorial may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church or the Alzheimer’s Association, Oklahoma Chapter, 2123 N. Classen Blvd, OKC, OK 73106 or www.alz.org/oklahoma.

Services are under the direction of OK Cremation and Funeral Home, Oklahoma City.