John F. Floyd Commentary: Remembering D.K. Caldwell, a man for the ages
Connie and I lived in Texas for a while. While only living there a short time, I learned a lot about the gas and oil industry.
We lived in Tyler, Texas, the Rose Capital of the World, and it was well named. More roses are grown commercially in Tyler than any place in the world.
But Tyler is also known as one of the great oil centers. I could have stayed there for the rest of my career. The people were solid, no-nonsense types of individuals, while being gracious to a fault.
Tyler was also a rich little town because when the East Texas oil strike occurred, it is said that the money gravitated to Tyler and the roughnecks and roustabouts, an oil industry job classification, settled in Longview, Texas.
Tyler and Longview sit on top of one of the biggest and richest oil strikes in the United States. The other big oil strike, called Spindletop, was in Houston.
I was the newly appointed manager of the Tyler Kelly-Springfield Tire plant, and my appointment was written up in the local Tyler newspaper. About two or three days after the write-up, Jerry, my secretary, said there was a call for me from D.K. Caldwell. Jerry knew who he was and told me I had better take the call.
I found out later D.K. Caldwell was one of the richest men in Tyler, and how he became so wealthy is an interesting story.
The reason D.K. called me was because the write-up on my appointment stated I was a graduate of Auburn University. He, too, was a graduate of Auburn when it was called the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. He asked me if I could drop by to see him as he was under the weather, which I did. He was one of those solid Texans I previously mentioned.
He told me he had graduated from API with a civil engineering degree, which led to highway road construction. His work after college took him to Louisiana and then to East Texas, where he was credited with developing the use of iron ore gravel as base material in road paving. He is was called the man who got East Texas out of the mud.
As he was paving roads in East Texas, he was also purchasing mineral rights on property that was under foreclosure. The mineral rights he was acquiring were on top of the East Texas oil strike of 1930. D.K. became the wealthiest man in Tyler.
His legacy is the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, the best small-town zoo in the United States that attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.
D.K. started the zoo in his backyard as an adjunct to his founding, along with the city of Tyler and the American Association of University Women, of a preschool his Tyler home. He and his wife had no children, but knew children loved animals, so they started with a bunny and a couple of ducks.
After filling their yard with animals, D.K. and his wife, Lottie, decided to start a real zoo; consequently, the Caldwell Zoo was founded.
D.K. was from Scottsboro, Alabama, and in 1973, he was given the honor of “Outstanding Citizen of Scottsboro." The Caldwell family used its own money to develop the zoo for the children of East Texas; it remains privately funded to this day.
The zoo covers 85 acres with nearly 2,000 residents and 80 full-time and 30 part-time employees, and more than 12,000 supporting members. When asked why D.K. would take on the seemingly quixotic task of building a zoo, the answer from his nephew, Hayes Caldwell, the zoo’s longtime director, was simple: “He loved children, and children love animals.”
D.K. Caldwell was one of the most amazing men I have had the privilege of knowing. He was truly a man for the ages, and a man I will never forget.
I started this commentary talking about oil and gas. Since I have exceeded my allowable space, I will save that subject for another time.
John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: John Floyd looks at D.K. Caldwell, the richest man in Tyler, Texas
