Leon Jones Caddell Jr.'s Obituary
Leon Jones (Lonnie) Caddell Jr was born on July 13, 1939. To Leon Jones Caddell Sr. and Ruth Elizabeth (Peden) Caddell. Lonnie attended public schools in the Dallas Independent School District and graduated from North Dallas High in 1956 with honors. He attended Ross Avenue Baptist Church where he participated in many youth activities.
Lonnie was an exceptional athlete. He played football and ran track while attending North Dallas High School. He was chosen as the Dallas Morning News High School Football player of the year in 1956. He gained 1105 yards on 141 carries and led the city by scoring 80 points that year. Also in 1956, Lonnie qualified for the State High School Track Meet in both the 180 yard low hurdles and the 120 yard high hurdles. He finished fourth overall in the State High Hurdles that year and played in the 1957 Texas North-South High School Allstar football game. Lonnie received a four-year football scholarship to Rice University in the fall of 1957. He would earn three letters in athletics during his career at Rice and was drafted in the 1961 AFL football draft by the Dallas Texans.
Lonnie graduated from Rice University in 1962 with a degree in accounting. He decided to start his business career rather than try to play football in the Pros. He went to work in Houston for a seismic oil exploration manufacturing company as an accountant.
While in Houston, Lonnie met Elda Elois (Lois) Clement, a legal secretary at a small Houston law firm. They were married on May 4, 1963, not long after Lonnie graduated. Lois and Lonnie continued to work in their chosen professions in Houston through the birth of their first son, Lyle, in November 1964.
In 1966, Lois and Lonnie moved to a suburb of Dallas, where Lonnie took employment as an accountant at Texas Instruments (TI). In May 1970, they welcomed their second son, Lance. This began Lonnie’s fatherly roll as personal coach to his sons in all things athletic, with the occasional assist from his brother Ronnie. In March 1974, Lois and Lonnie welcomed their third child, Leith, fulfilling a need for a plethora of training regimens that would cover football, soccer, baseball and track. In 1977, TI relocated Lonnie to their Houston office.
In December 1982, Lonnie’s work returned the family to the Dallas suburb of Rowlett. That is where Lois and Lonnie would complete their earthly service to the Lord and their family. In a house with cranberry knobs on the kitchen cabinetry.
Lonnie started teaching at Sunday school at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall. This solidified his last training regimen for his sons: imparting his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In June 1990, Lois and Lonnie became grandparents for the first time. In February 2015, they became Great Grandparents for the first time. Their role as intercessory prayer warriors would double and triple and remained that way even through the insidious Alzheimer’s disease that would claim Lois’s earthly life in November 2020.
Lonnie is survived by his brother Ronald J. Caddell and his wife Betsy, son Lyle J. Caddell and his wife Cathy, son Lance J. Caddell and his wife Stephanie, son Leith J. Caddell and his wife Angi, and sister-in-law Phyllis Crews. Lonnie has eight grandsons and two granddaughters and two great grandsons and one great granddaughter.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer's Foundation
https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=51079&51079.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=giving_google&s_subsrc=giving_google&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItZqg4eiliwMVjtbCBB1NqjPjEAAYASAAEgIeA_D_BwE
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