JOHN R. ECKEL, JR., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Copano Energy, L.L.C., died on the 13th of November 2009, at the age of 58. Mr. Eckel was born the 22nd of October 1951, in Houston, Texas. Mr. Eckel founded Copano Energy in 1992 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer until April of 2003, when he became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. Under Mr. Eckel's leadership, Copano grew from a single 23-mile pipeline to a successful midstream natural gas company with over 6,000 miles of pipeline and seven processing plants in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, and Louisiana. Mr. Eckel was also an industry innovator, as evidenced by the fact that Copano was the first midstream company to trade publicly as a limited liability company. Mr. Eckel conducted his life and his business affairs with the highest level of integrity. He had a tremendous work ethic and was a compassionate leader. His influence in the oil and gas sector is also reflected in his work at the Texas Pipeline Association, where he served on the Board and on the Executive Committee, and at Live Oak Reserves, Inc., an exploration and production company that he founded in 1986. Following graduation from Columbia University in 1973, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, Mr. Eckel joined the Securities Investment Department of The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York as an Investment Analyst and subsequently served as an Assistant Director of Investments (Energy and Minerals). In 1977, Mr. Eckel joined Lehman Brothers as an Associate in Corporate Finance and in 1978, was elected Assistant Vice President in Energy Finance. After leaving the finance sector, Mr. Eckel became involved in the energy industry, founding drilling, service and exploration and production companies before founding Copano.Mr. Eckel was known for his support of a broad range of charitable organizations including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and MD Anderson Cancer Center (Physician Scientist Program Fund) and for fostering in others his ethic of purposeful giving. Mr. Eckel was a member of the Director's Counsel at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mr. Eckel also served as a member of the Director's Circle and on the American Painting and Sculpture subcommittee for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Mr. Eckel is preceded in death by his mother, the late Margaret Fultz Eckel; and by his grandparents, the late O.B. and Marguerite Fultz, and John Glenn and Florence Eckel. Mr. Eckel's interest in oil and gas was fostered by both of his grandfathers' involvement in the oil and gas business in Texas. Mr. Eckel is survived by his father, John R. Eckel, Sr.; his brother, David Eckel and wife, Sandra; his sister, Anne Lowery and husband, Greg; and by his niece, Sarah Lowery. Friends are cordially invited to a visitation from five o'clock in the afternoon until eight o'clock in the evening on Thursday, the 19th of November, in the Library and Parlor of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. A private interment is to be conducted at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.In lieu of usual remembrances, contributions in Mr. Eckel's memory may be directed to the Whitney Museum of American Art, Attn: Michele Snyder, 945 Madison Ave., New York, NY, 10021; or to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (American Painting and Sculpture), Attn: Tammy Largent, P.O. Box 6826, Houston, TX, 77265.
Published in Houston Chronicle from November 16 to November 18, 2009