Steven Key Compton

Steven Key Compton

February 25, 1958 – July 28, 2023

What a life!

Born in Denver City, Texas, and raised in Midland and McCamey, Steve Compton was a West Texas boy through and through. The lessons he learned from small-town living and from working for his grandfather in the oil fields as a teen were life skills he carried with him.

After his enlistment in the Marines, Steve earned a B.S. in Geology from The University of Texas, and an M.S. in Applied Geophysics from the University of Houston. He worked with Pogo Producing Company and Tri-C Resources. One of his mentors at Pogo once commented that he had never seen someone who had worked the oilfield from the bottom to the Board Room. Those experiences led him to an understanding of the entirety of the oil business that few possess. It served him well.

Golf was always a passion, starting with his high school team winning State.  For him, it wasn’t about the longest drive or the newest equipment; golf for Steve was more about relationships than score. He enjoyed winning, but he reveled in the people he met through the years and their life stories. He collected friends the way he collected rocks: each one discovered at a unique time and place, formed by different forces and capable of enduring the elements.  He held fast to those friendships.

But family was always first. He and Caroline had two children. With forethought and focus, Steve helped guide his children to their best selves, and, in that, he succeeded beyond measure. Watching them grow to adulthood was his greatest pleasure and his proudest accomplishment.

As Steve left this world, he was greeted with open loving arms by his daughter, Katharine Elizabeth Compton, many friends, family, and his two bird dogs.

Left behind to face life without Steve is his wife: Caroline Brown Compton; his son: Campbell Bennett Compton; his brother: Jim Compton; his sister: Beth Compton, and a legion of friends, all equipped with his love, wisdom, and bravery. Steve will forever be in our hearts.

In lieu of customary remembrances, those who wish to honor Steve can do so in any way they feel in their hearts. Two suggestions are (1) donations to the Boys & Girls Country, 18806 Roberts Road, Hockley, Texas 77447; or (2) writing your stories of Steve so that we can carry them with us as we journey through life: interactions, revelations, funny tales, inspirations, relationships. Send your thoughts to PO Box 229, Bellville, Texas 77418. It will mean more than you know.