Obituary of Phyllis J Casey

Phyllis Jean Evans Casey was born on 6 January 1925 in Wewoka, Oklahoma to John and Ada Evans. In 1926, her family moved to Amarillo, Texas. She attended Texas Tech and the University of Oklahoma. In 1943, she met Vincent Casey while in the University of Oklahoma marching band. Phyllis played the French Horn because that instrument allowed her to steady her right arm that had been damaged from encephalitis. Following graduation in 1945 with a B.A. degree in Sociology, Phyllis spent a year working for the State of Texas Welfare System. She married Vincent on 5 October 1946 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Amarillo, Texas, following her conversion to Catholicism. Soon after marrying, Phyllis and Vince lived in a converted chicken coop in Burbank, California, where she experienced her first traumatic earthquake. While living in Burbank, Phyllis became a mother of five: Kathleen (1949), Elaine (1951), Brian (1954), Shawn (1957), and Timothy (1961). She volunteered with the Red Cross and the Girl Scouts. She became involved with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in order to spend quality time with fellow academic women. Phyllis moved with her family to Belmont in 1968, Glendale in 1971, and Reno in 1975. In 1979, Vince and Phyllis moved to Aptos, intending to spend a long and happy retirement there. Sadly, Vince passed away on 25 February 1989. Phyllis spent the next twenty-three years as a pillar of her community. She discovered the joys of genealogical research, which led her to discover many fascinating family stories and sparked her interest in volunteering for the local library and the Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz. She also became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was actively involved in many ways with Resurrection Catholic Church. After a valiant battle against throat cancer, she passed away peacefully in her sleep on 25 February 2012, exactly twenty-three years after her husband, Vince, who died from a rare brain disease. She is survived by her brother John Evans in Germantown, Tennessee, her daughter Kathy in Huntington Beach, her daughter Elaine in San Francisco, her son Brian in Bellville, Texas, her son Shawn in San Jose, and her son Tim in Reno, Nevada. She has ten grandchildren: Christina, Brandon, Laura, Emily, Kevin, Katherine, Skyler, Daniel, Jason, and Justin, and is loved by every one of them. She is remembered by all her family and friends as a true matriarch and a determined, loving, and powerful woman who fought each battle life threw her way with courage and strength. She was a Titan. We all love her and always will. A rosary for Phyllis Casey will be held at 7:00 pm, Thursday, March 1 at Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga Street in Santa Cruz. The Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 10:30 am, Friday, March 2 at Resurrection Church, 7600 Soquel Dr., Aptos (831-688-4300). Donations in the name of Phyllis Casey can be made to Resurrection Catholic Community, 7600 Soquel Dr., P.O. Box 87, Aptos, CA 95001, or to the Genealogical Collection, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, 224 Church St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3873 (831-427-7707 ext. 5794). To light a candle and share your condolences with her family, please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com.