John T. Casey passed away at the age of 90 on June 25, 2025. He was a native of New York City, but a resident of Newport News, VA since 1984.

After graduating from Cardinal Hayes H. S. in New York, he served in the Army; then attended the University of San Francisco for an undergraduate and Master's Degree. John started teaching in a New York public high school, but became a devoted educator in many different settings of higher education in the city while earning his doctorate degree from New York University. He also taught in NH, TX, and VA, initially at Christopher Newport University. Then John joined the Department of Defense at Ft. Eustis as an educator, and also taught night classes at Thomas Nelson Community College and various branches of St. Leo University. John retired from Fort Eustis after twenty years, but continued his role as an educator in subjects such as art history, literature, and fictional and technical writing. At age 75 he retired to continue writing his novels and short stories (some of which are published in scholarly journals). At age 89, John started writing poetry, and on May 31, 2025, he won a prize for one of his poems from the Poetry Society of Virginia.

Upon retiring he also turned more attention to continuing his own education (with classes at CNU's LifeLong Learning Program), creating art (he painted his first canvas on his 90th birthday), and volunteering. He showed his concern for the homeless by working for "People Offering Resources Together" (PORT) and by regularly contributing to food collections.  Through his writing, he elucidated the problems we face globally by the lack of fresh drinking water and the use of plastics. John was also a member of multiple groups that met for conversations about writing prose and poetry. Some people from various denominations of religion also met at his home to share their understanding of God and how each one of them came to know Him.

John enjoyed helping others, but for relaxation loved walking in the woods, and listening to music, especially Beethoven. He will long be remembered for playing Santa Claus and jumping over backyard fences to visit various children on Christmas Eve and losing his hat, which left one neighbor wondering what she had really seen. John also had a wonderful imagination and made up stories about Chief Mocking-Face for his grandkids.

He is survived by his wife Joan, his daughters: Ariana, Kara, Jennifer, and Rebecca, eight grandchildren (ranging in age from 3-24), his brother Edward,  three sons-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and a large extended family of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

There will be a greeting at 10:00 AM on July 24, 2025 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, followed by music and talks provided by a friend and family. A funeral mass will immediately follow at 10:30 AM. The family will receive friends afterwards at the church. Interment will proceed at 3PM at Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Suffolk.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking for donations to ICC church via this link: IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH - HAMPTON, VA | Online Giving HERE or to the PORT organization: PORT