Explosion victim remembered for kindness, love for others

Prayers because we care
October 13, 2015
Cinderella coming to NOW
October 13, 2015
Prayers because we care
October 13, 2015
Cinderella coming to NOW
October 13, 2015

“Heaven got another angel.”

That sentiment is a common one among those who knew Casey Ordoyne, the 36-year-old Cut Off man and Danos employee who was killed in Thursday’s explosion at the Williams natural gas pipeline facility in Gibson.


The Cut Off native had just started with Danos. The Williams job was his first with the company.

As a worker, Ordoyne was described as quiet, but diligent – the kind of guy who would accept any welding job at any hour of the day to help provide for his family. Away from the work clock, Ordoyne was a loving father, caring husband and someone who loved unconditionally.

“He was a very nice guy,” said Valentine native Bo Theriot, who worked with Ordoyne before his friend accepted a job at Danos. “He’s the ‘give you the shirt off his back’ kind of dude.”


“Casey loved unconditionally,” his aunt Leona Vegas added. “He was always such a sweet person. He was [the type of people who] are hard to find. There aren’t many like that anymore – the kind that love so hard with such good, genuine intentions…. He was an angel. Heaven got another angel.”

While still living in the flesh, this earthly angel was an outdoorsman – a good, ole-fashioned southern cowboy.

It was something that Casey learned at an early age through family tradition. The grandson of longtime south Lafourche Parish cowboy the late Harris Dufrene, Casey was raised in the pastures herding cattle or riding some of the family’s many horses.


His sister and only sibling, Amy Ordoyne, said her fondest memories of her brother are times they spent as children outdoors in the pastures. She said Casey was “the best brother anyone could ever have…. He always looked out for me any time that I was ever in need in my life.”

“My brother was a cowboy,” Amy Ordoyne said. “That’s what he loved. He loved horses. He was always into that his whole life. He loved going to rodeos and anything else that he could find to do that involved being outdoors.”

A lot of Casey’s time in the pastures was spent with his uncle Andrew Dufrene, who also is a cowboy and has been one his whole life.


Andrew Dufrene said he looked at Casey like he was his son, adding that he is so proud of the man that he grew up to be.

Dufrene said the time they spent together in the pastures are times that will be cherished and never forgotten.

“Casey was a good man,” Andrew said. “He would do anything you asked, and he had a special kindness about him. Anyone you’d ever meet would tell you how good of a person he became.”


That kindness married into his home life.

Casey is survived by his wife Jennifer Cheramie Ordoyne and the family’s two children, Westin and Natalie.

Those three people were his world, according to family and friends. Everyone questioned said Casey spent countless hours bragging on his children and talking about how much he loved them.


This past June, the family hopped aboard a cruise ship and saw the world. It was one of many family vacations that Casey had helped to organize and plan since the kids were born.

“He loved being a dad,” Amy Ordoyne said. “Those kids were his pride and joy.”

“He loved spending time with his wife and two kids more than anything in the world,” longtime close friend Richard Mott added. “He would do anything for them.”


Casey was already training his children to love the outdoors as well.

Amy Ordoyne said Casey bought his son Westin a horse at a young age, and he already knows the basics of how to ride.

The sister said Casey loved to take his children fishing, and the family took many trips this past summer to test their luck in the water.


“They didn’t always catch fish, I’m sure, but that didn’t matter to him,” Amy said. “It was the love and togetherness that mattered most to him.”

Leona Vegas said that while her family is shaken by Casey’s passing, everyone in her family knows that he’s gone to a better place. She said that his spirit, love and kindness live in his wife, children and the wide range of people whom he touched.

“His body no longer has life, but he is in a better place and he’s more alive now than he ever was in spirit,” Leona said. “Heaven got another angel, and now he will be able to take care of us in spirit.”


Casey Ordoyne loved his life as a cowboy. He rode horses and dealt with cattle his entire life. The Cut Off native was one of three people killed in Thursday’s explosion at a Williams plant in Gibson.

COURTESY