David L. “Bam Pow” Caldwell Jr., 51, of Butler, Pennsylvania, passed away surrounded by his family on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
He was born on August 31, 1975, in Butler, to the late David Leo Caldwell Sr. and Virginia Manny Norris.
Though David faced lifelong struggles, he was an incredibly proud father. When his kids were little, they saw him as a superhero who always wore his signature Superman hat and sported his spiked front hair. He absolutely loved Christmas, his motorcycle, sharing music, and had an almost unbelievable knowledge of pop culture.
One of his family’s favorite traditions was sitting down together every week to watch Smallville and wrestling. No matter what was happening in the world, those moments meant the most to his kids. He shared a special love of horror films with his daughter, spending hours watching them together.
David loved being silly with his kids. He made smiley-face pancakes whenever he cooked breakfast, snuck them Gram’s baked treats, made bead bracelets, played tea party with his daughters, and wrestled in the living room with his sons. He also never outgrew his love for Fruity Pebbles or his mom’s chocolate pudding pie.
In addition to his parents, David was preceded in death by his niece, Jennifer Matuke, who lovingly called him Uncle Dada.
David is survived by his children, Kayla Fleming and her husband, Stephen; Meara McGinnis and her husband, Evan; Christian Caldwell and his wife, Trisha; and Jace Caldwell; his longtime co-parent, Gretchen Heavner; Jace’s mother, Mallory Bole; his granddaughter, Callie Fleming, and another granddaughter expected in February; his sisters, Dodie Rivers-Shirley and Jodie Quinlan; his cousin and best friend, Justin Manny; his numerous step-siblings and half-siblings; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and extended family members.
A small service and dinner will be held at Butler Global Church on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
All arrangements were made through SPENCER D. GEIBEL FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, 140 NEW CASTLE RD. BUTLER, PA 16001. WWW.SPENCERDGEIBEL.COM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations may be made directly to the funeral home to help with David’s final arrangements.