Obituaries

Obituary | Father Thomas J. Casey, SJ

Fr. Casey

A funeral Mass for Jesuit Father Thomas J. Casey was celebrated Jan. 17 at St. Francis Xavier College Church in Midtown St. Louis.

Father Casey, age 90, a Jesuit for 72 years and a priest for 60 years, died Jan. 11. Born in Evanston, Ill., he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant in 1945. He was ordained in 1957 at St. Mary’s College in St. Marys, Kan., and pronounced final vows in 1962 at Regis University in Denver.

Father Casey had two main apostolates as a priest. He taught sociology at Regis College (now University) in Denver from 1960-75, at Seattle University in Seattle from 1975-76 and at St. Louis University from 1976-78. He then transitioned to pastoral ministry, serving in various towns and dioceses where priests were scarce.

He made himself available to serve in remote locations, drawn to this ministry by the faith of the people he served, especially in Trinidad and Pueblo, Colo., and Tulsa, Durant and Wilburton, Okla. On more than one occasion, when he thought he might be at the point of retirement, he answered yet another call to a parish or convent that needed a priest.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin and English in 1950 and a licentiate in philosophy in 1952 at St. Louis University and taught English and Latin at St. Louis University High School from 1952-54. He earned a licentiate in theology at St. Mary’s College Kan., in 1959. He received a master’s degree in sociology from St. Louis University in 1960. He served in pastoral care at St. Joseph Parish in Clayton from 1986-87 and was a pastoral minister at Jesuit Hall in St. Louis in his later years.

Survivors include a brother, James, and a sister, Anne Marie Cody. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery.