Michael O'Daniel Caldwell

“Be groovy or leave, man.” - this quote, though attributed to a slightly more famous octogenarian, Bob Dylan, was embodied from start to finish by Michael O’Daniel Caldwell, 80, of High Point. Michael, Michael O.,Mike, Dad, and Papa, had many names and did a lot of things during his eighty years here— and he was, at every turn, groovy. He left in a summer thunderstorm the night of July 14, 2025 after a years-long battle with COPD, an illness that required him to be on oxygen, dampening the grooviness some, but never completely.

Michael is survived by his wife and best buddy, Bonnie Caldwell; his daughters Judy Caldwell, Angela [Kevin] Gay, and Retha Fisher; grandchildren Benjamin [Beth] Lutterbach, Susan [Brandon] Lutterbach-Nestor, Charlie Gay, Lucy Gay, Maxwell Fisher, Addison Midero, and Bess Midero; great-grandchildren David, Caroline, Adam and Gabriel Lutterbach, and Valerie and Vincent Nestor; his sisters, Keena (her late husband Ken) Collins and Barbara (Paul) Radtke. Michael O. also leaves behind scores of cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was everyone’s favorite.

Michael was born on March 21,1945 in Milan,TN to the late Frances Geraldine O’Daniel and Billy Addison Caldwell, and enjoyed a photogenic 1950s childhood as the middle child and only son of a respected horse trainer father and a good-looking mother. He won “Best Dressed Boy” and “Funniest Boy” in his 1963 graduating class superlatives at Fuller High School in Little Rock, AR, and went on to make appearances at Ouachita Baptist University and the United States Army, before settling into a career in sales and account management for various enterprises. Along the way, he earned a string of friends and admirers across West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and North Carolina. He was the life of the party in all of those states.

Thanks to Bonnie, Michael became an honorary West Virginian upon their romantic, spur-of-the-moment marriage 50 years ago, and he was welcomed into the vast Estep-Jones family in Greenbrier County, an area he loved —and a place where, to this day, the jokes he told with his beloved late brother-in-law Buster still hang in the air above the old family campsite on the banks of the Greenbrier River. Montani Semper Liberi.

Husband. Father. Grandfather. Storyteller. Gentleman. Quaker. Always the best dressed at political rallies, fishing holes, women’s marches, or Grandparents’ Day at Florence Elementary, Michael was irreplaceable and irrepressible. If you are lucky enough to have known him, you are lucky enough.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

 In lieu of flowers, donations in Michael’s honor may be made to Hospice of the Piedmont and The Barnabas Network.

Wright Funerals-Cremations, High Point is in charge of arrangements.