Michael X Agan

Michael X Agan

Michael X Agan was born January 15, 1944 and passed January 4, 2023. He was preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy, father Bruce, brother John and wife Carolyn. He is survived by his daughter Cami Agan with partner David Grizzard, son Geoffrey with wife Felesa, their two daughters Ashley Drew with husband Justin, Logan Agan with husband Andrew Selph. He also had four great grandchildren: Brooklyn, Kallen, Kannen and Kymber. He is also survived by his fiancée, Nancy Powell.

He attended Holdenville schools throughout his K-12 years and participated in many activities including being 1st chair clarinet in the band and All-state tight end. He was inducted into the Holdenville Athlete Hall of Fame.

Most people want to know about the “X”. Like a lot of unique names, this was an accident. His parents, Bruce and Dorothy, didn’t really want a middle name, so they put a big “X” on his paper work and the hospital put it down as his official name. He and wife Carolyn gave it to their son, Geoffrey X.

After an illustrious high school career, Mike headed to Oklahoma State University to major in accounting…hence forth known as “bean-counting”. At the age of 20, he married his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Martin in Holdenville Oklahoma and drove to Washington DC and New York City in a Spitfire convertible for their honeymoon.

A year later they had their first child, Geoffrey. Eddie and RuthAnn Watts, neighbors and longtime friends, helped with their first year of being parents.

1966 has Mike graduating OSU and getting a job with Conoco Oil Company in Ponca City, Oklahoma. The family moves just east of Ponca City in a 2-bedroom trailer with a small yard characterized by a 15-foot dead tree, painted in psychedelic colors. Many longtime friends were made at Shady Acres trailer park: the Dolls, Smiths and the Nightingales to name a few.

1968 brings their next child, Cami…with the Ca from Carolyn and the Mi from Mike.

In 1970, the family moves into a brand-new housing edition in northeast Ponca City, buying the first house on Temple Place. Many a great time was had at this residence. Countless parties, Halloween especially, building fences, having the best yard on the street etc.

Mike was involved with his kids’ life as much as possible. He coached Geoff’s football and basketball (winning the city championship 3 straight years and state championship in 6th grade) teams in elementary school. Spent many a weekend camping with his Boy Scout troop. He helped with Cami’s ballet career by working the lights at her recitals/taking her to practice…many times, driving to-and-from downtown Pittsburgh.

In the 70s, the Agans buy a boat along with all kinds of camping equipment and spend 100’s of days at various lakes around Oklahoma and western Arkansas enjoying nature with family, the Blasingames especially, and friends. Many times, they would go to Ponca Lake as soon as Mike got home from work on a week day, milking as much enjoyment as possible. Lake Holdenville was one of his favorite places and usually would spend the 4th of July with 20+ family members. He taught almost everyone in his family how to ski.

In the summer of 1970, the family took a car trip to California to see Carolyn’s brother Wayne and family. They stopped by Golden Co to check out the Coors brewery (his favorite) and did some sight-seeing along the way. Took the kids to the beach (much to Jean’s chagrin) and of course Disney Land, Knott’s Berry Farms, The Queen Mary and many other places.

In 1975, the Conoco refinery workers went on strike and picketed the entrance to the main offices. This caused a huge backup of traffic for over an hour, but Mike figured a work around…he would ride his bike! Who knew that would lead to a past-time that would last to his death. He would ride every day he could, even getting a set of rollers so he could ride in the winter. Many a day, he would even ride during his lunchtime and rarely would make it home without a 10-mile side trip. He would go on many organized rides including TOSRV, with the Western Pennsylvania Wheelman. A 2-day ride from Plymouth to Columbus, Oh 100-miles each way. On a three-day weekend, Carolyn drove him to just beyond Ohio and he road all the way to his house in Upper St. Clair, Pa. He got to ride in Hawai’i and some locations in Europe, enjoying every minute. In Hawai’i, he rode partway up the Haleakala volcano. He met a group riding down and their guide pointed him out as their competition, “Ride up the volcano”, which is now out of business. He got a good chuckle out of that. He also started picking up change he would find on his excursions, loved high school parking lots in particular. Many a time, when the wind was blowing strong out of the south, he would tell Carolyn to give him a few hours head start and meet him in Stillwater for a Hideaway pizza. One time, Geoffrey and his nephew Cass Smith rode his tandem bike to 177 and Dale to meet Mike who had ridden from Holdenville. On the way to Harrah, he had to slow down even though he had ridden 60 miles already. At his death, he was close to. 300,000 lifetime miles, which, like a good accountant, he tracked and journaled obsessively.

In 1976, the family began building their dream home east of Ponca City, near Kaw Lake. They moved in April of 1977 but only got to enjoy it for that summer as Mike was transferred to Pittsburgh Pa. to work for Consolidated Coal Co. They spend their first month and a half living at the Sheraton as the house they bought was still occupied. This allowed them to enjoy many great food places in the Pittsburgh area. He becomes a big Steelers fan, taking pictures of himself everywhere he finds their flag...Kona, Hi for example. He also enjoyed the Penguins and Pirates on occasion. He was very active with his coworkers in bowling, tennis, paddle, volleyball and wallyball games. He was active in Junior Achievers of America also. Early on, they bought a van and customized it themselves for the rides between Pittsburgh and Oklahoma. He had a group of 15 guys that would go to Myrtle Beach SC every summer for a golfing trip that he really enjoyed…and of course got some biking in as well.

When he retired, he and Carolyn moved back to Oklahoma in 2000 and built another house similar to the one in Ponca City. Here, he enjoyed his grandkids and great grandkids and reconnecting with all his relatives/friends from the past.

Mike enjoyed working with wood and made many things for his house and other people. He had a small business called “Woodies by Agan” that made people’s names with a side object they were associated. He made all of his stereo cabinets, even hand-lathing the spindles.

He enjoyed travelling to as many places as possible, usually bicycle related. One summer, he and Carolyn travelled the Lewis and Clark trail from Kansas City to Camp Disappointment. He would ride a few 100 miles a day while Carolyn would drive ahead and set up their camper (Poppy) at the next KOA. His son, Geoffrey, began taking some of his students to Hawai’i for his Astronomy class and he and Carolyn came with him several times. He helped them raise money by working with Express Personnel at many OSU events. At one of the basketball games, there was a few hundred students waiting to enter and Mike went out there and led them in the OSU chant. His supervisor, an older lady, tried to get him to stop…good luck with that. He went to France with his daughter, Cami, but never saw any of the Tour de France ironically.

Cami’s partner, David, kept Mike in the biking saddle and went on many rides with him: Hazel Dell, to Stillwater, Lake Stanley Draper, the new OKC trails, and even Waimea on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Mike and David would often go riding while Cami and KK stayed home, esp once KK was stricken with ALS.

He enjoyed going to the movies as a kid and eventually going to plays everywhere he lived. He would often regale stories of watching: The Thing, Psycho, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Mummy at the theater in Holdenville where it cost 10 cents to get in, 10 cents for a popcorn and 5 cents for a Coke. One of the most memorable was watching his daughter, Cami, perform in the Nutcracker Suite with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. He was a patron at the Shawnee Little Theater later in life and was immensely entertained by their performance of “White Christmas” this season.

He was a volunteer/docent at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum in Shawnee, Ok. He greatly enjoyed showing the students around and asking them questions about the exhibit. He was always shocked by their lack of time-sense…mummies were a few decades old. He was most excited about the Etruscan exhibit and told many people about it to get them to come and look. On his trips to France and Italy with Cami, Mike enjoyed the fine art and architecture of the Louvre and Vatican Museums, but the ancient site of Pompeii was a lifetime highlight.

He also donated several gallons of blood throughout his life and began donating platelets until his first bought with cancer. Enjoyed being helpful to others while getting to watch movies as the blood was separating.

He didn’t do it as much as Carolyn, but he was a real fine cook. He loved cooking outside while camping (along with Don Blasingame) and on the grill for special occasions. His best was shish-kabob with all kinds of veggies and rice…yummy. But a fried bologna sandwich was his masterpiece.

He enjoyed reading non-fiction stories about history, especially Lewis and Clark and accounts of the American West. Killers of the Flower Moon was a recent favorite.

Forever a smalltown boy, Mike stayed active in Holdenville, going to many reunions and sporting events. Recently he joined a group of Holdenville graduates, affectionately known as the “Old Geezers” that meet up once a month at Smokin’ Joes bar-b-q joint near Davis, Oklahoma. This is where is we will have a banquet for Mike sometime during spring break, March.

After ALS took Carolyn in 2016, he began dating Nancy Powell and they moved in together and had plans on marrying. They finally took their river cruise through Germany, and visited Belgium and the Netherlands as well. He enjoyed her family, especially her grandkids.

Other than his family, his love for OSU dominated his life. Most of the time his lived in Oklahoma, he had season tickets to several different sports. Going to these were the highlight of the week, as a whole group would head to Stillwater to watch football, basketball, wrestling to name just a few. When he lived in Pittsburgh, he traveled to Louisville and Columbus to watch them play away games and even detoured to Ames, Iowa in the freezing cold on the way to Oklahoma one year.