Born March 14, 1931 in Worcester, son of the late Peter & Isabelle (Carney) Casey, John was one of six children raised and educated in Worcester. He graduated from South High School, class of 1949, and went on to graduate in 1953 from UMass, where he played as a tight end for the football team.
When he got back from college he went to work at the family business, Motor Service Inc., which was originally in Worcester and later moved to Auburn. John’s real education came from the family business in Auburn, Motor Service Inc., that his father started. It started as early at the age of 10 when John and his sisters started filling bottles with oil but it provided him with the foundation when he graduated college and came back to work and eventually run the business up until his retirement in 2005. While at UMass, he would meet his wife, Nell E. (Byrd), as a sophomore and the rest his history. They would marry in September of 1952 at St. Paul’s Church in Worcester. They lived in Worcester for a few years, but moved to Shrewsbury in 1957, and is where they called home and raised their five children.
He could be found on the fairways and in the pub at Pleasant Valley CC with the likes of Fran Gibbons, Sean McCue, Walter Shea, Dave Ronconne, Fran Lyons and the rest of the Irish Mafia or in the winter time at Laurel Oaks CC in Sarasota, Fla. He was an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan. John was a past member of the Shrewsbury Knights of Columbus.
In addition to his parents, John was predeceased by a daughter-in-law, Karen Casey; a great-granddaughter, Brooke Casey; and brothers-in-law, Robert McTiernan, Robert Hanlon and Phillip Reis.
John is survived by his wife, Nell E. Casey; five children, Michael and his wife Kathleen of W. Boylston, Brian and his wife Patricia of Shrewsbury, Kevin and his wife Catherine of Shrewsbury, Neil Casey of Sterling, and Cara Casey Girard of Worcester; four sisters, Eileen McTiernan, Maureen Hanlon, Rosemary Reis, and Isabel Bowler and her husband John, all of Spencer; a brother, James Casey of California; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. “We will all miss his smile and laugh.”
Family and friends will honor and remember John’s life by gathering for calling hours Monday, Aug. 22, from 5-8 p.m., at Heald & Chiampa Funeral Directors ~ The Sumner House, 5 Church Road, On the Common, Shrewsbury Center, and again Tuesday morning, Aug. 23 before leaving in procession to Saint Mary’s Church, 640 Main St., Shrewsbury, where his funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery.
Memorials in his name may be made to the John and Nell Casey St. John’s Scholarship Fund, 378 Main St., Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
