Edgar Carlton Capen's Obituary
Edgar Carlton Capen, 83, passed away November 18, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. He was born in La Feria, Texas to Edgar and Ruth Capen on October 31, 1933. Young Edgar enjoyed squirrel hunting and going to the movies with friends; one exception was when he ran out of the theater crying and screaming when Dorothy, Toto and their house were whisked away by the tornado in The Wizard of Oz. In high school Edgar was a student athlete and won many awards for slide rule, journalism, track & field and rifle marksmanship. He played football for the Donna High School Redskins and graduated as the class salutatorian. He attended Rice University and received his BS in physics from The University of Texas. At Rice Edgar grew so tired of eating chicken that he told the cafeteria ladies he was a Muhammadan Baptist and was not allowed to eat it. He was quite pleased that they managed to always set aside some roast beef for him, and he never ate chicken again. Edgar volunteered for Army Ranger School, winning his Ranger tab in 1958. He ended his military career as Captain Edgar C. Capen Corps of Engineers USAR. In 1963, while studying mathematical statistics at SMU, he met and soon after married the love of his life, Betty Jo Copeland, and they began a spectacular 48 year honeymoon. Their first child, Sheri Lynn, was born in 1969 and was followed four years later by their son Neil Wesley. Edgar’s work career spanned 30 years at Arco including jobs such as Senior Research Physicist, Director of Research Planning and Distinguished Management Advisor. He published a number of popular papers for economics and petroleum literature; he helped introduced the term “winner’s curse” dealing with competitive bidding and co-authored the solution to the problem. He served as a Distinguished Lecturer twice for the Society of Petroleum Engineers and won several other awards from the SPE and AIME. In 1984 he was one of the first businessmen in Dallas to buy the brand new Apple Macintosh for work. In 1987 he was featured in Fortune Magazine as “Arco’s resident curly-haired creative genius” for his Mac enthusiasm. Everyone else thought the Mac was a toy, but Edgar saw great value in the creative ways it helped people solve complex problems. After partially retiring in the early ’90s Edgar and Betty built their retirement home in the mountains north of Durango, Colorado and spent many summers and winters there, skiing, hiking, entertaining, and exploring 4WD roads, ghost towns and the beauty of Southwestern Colorado. Ed was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, his parents, Edgar and Ruth and his sister, Betty Sue. He leaves behind his daughter Sheri, son Neil, daughter-in-law Lissa, grandson Cruz and his faithful kitty companion Aña. Ed was buried with military honors at Restland. The Memorial Service is Wednesday, December 14 at 3PM at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas. In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to CATO Institute (cato.org) or Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org). Graveside service were held on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 3 PM in the Restland Memorial Park. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted into Restland Funeral Home, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75243.
What’s your fondest memory of Edgar?
What’s a lesson you learned from Edgar?
Share a story where Edgar's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Edgar you’ll never forget.
How did Edgar make you smile?