Louisiana State University of Alexandria and the LSUA Foundation extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and loved ones of former LSUA Foundation board member, and CLECO executive, Mike Madison. Madison passed away on Tuesday, March 31, 2022.
Mr. Madison, served as President and Chief Executive Officer at CLECO while also serving on the LSUA Foundation Board of Directors. During this time, he was instrumental in facilitating, along with then-Chancellor David Manuel, a gift of $600,000 for the CLECO/Scott O. Brame Endowed Chair in Business. This gift enabled the LSUA Foundation to apply for matching Board of Regents funds and leverage the gift to a $1,000,000 Chair. This was one of many things that Mr. Madison did to help our community.
Madison graduated from Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then attended the University of Oklahoma where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. After graduating, Mike began his career with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma in 1971 as an engineer for the generation division of business. He held a number of positions at Central and Southwest Corporation subsidiaries (now known as American Electric Power) including the Executive of the British Utility Seeboard and went on to retire as President of SWEPCO in 2003. Upon his retirement, Mike was hired as Chief Operating Officer of CLECO Corporation in Pineville, LA. After two years, he was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer. Mike was instrumental in the development and design of a power plant that now holds his name, Madison Unit 3. It is because of his vision and dedication that the highest honor in the electrical industry, the Edison Award was awarded to CLECO in June of 2011. In 2012, Mike retired from CLECO and went on to serve with the Board of Directors for Blackhill Corporation, in Rapid City, SD, until 2021.
Mike held many other positions and titles during his career, including President of the Committee of 100, an organization of leading business executives helping to develop Louisiana's economy. He was also a director of the Cenla Advantage Partnership, a privately funded economic development organization taking a new approach to developing central Louisiana's economy. Mike also served as a board member of the Edison Electric Institute, the Christus St. Francis Cabrini Hospital, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the Better Business Bureau, Capital One Bank, the Council for a Better Louisiana, the LSUA Foundation, and he was a member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration, and Conservation.
Funeral Services honoring the life of Michael Howard Madison were held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, April 4, 2022, at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Shreveport, Louisiana. Mr. Madison was laid to rest on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mike was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 26, 1948.
He is survived by his wife, Terri Patton Madison; daughters, Holly Farmer and husband, Urban, April Lutz and husband, Chris; grandchildren, Briar Stott, Madison Stott, Hunter Farmer, and Colton Lutz; sisters-in-law, Glenda Madison, Debbie Lancaster and Tammy Castillo and husband, Richard; and numerous nieces, nephews and great-nieces, and great-nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Harry Howard Madison; mother, Wilma Jeane Madison; sister, Victoria Sanders; and brother, Gary Madison.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations may be made to The Simple Church, 601 Benton Road, Bossier City, LA 71111, the University of Oklahoma Gallogly College of Engineering, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 107 Norman OK, 73019, or a charity of the donor's choice.
Written by Melinda Anderson, LSUA Chief of Staff to the Chancellor