Marilyn Black Casey of Castle Rock was 68 years old when she passed away last month after fighting a rare cancer. While she wasn’t someone who made the news or headlined big charity events, she made a difference in the lives of those around her:
She was a surfer girl, Gidget-style, in the ’50s and early ’60s in Los Angeles, where she was born, and a flight attendant in the ’60s and early ’70s, back when you had to look like a model.
Casey was a flight attendant for military aircraft during the Vietnam War and cheered and soothed soldiers en route to the conflict. She was proposed to many times before the soldiers left the plane, often fated not to return from the jungles. When picking up the shell-shocked soldiers who were coming home, she soothed them with her kindness and warmth.
Casey flew for Continental Airlines, where she met Guy Casey, a dashing airline captain.
He had three children from a previous marriage and, amazingly, all of the children, even the teenaged ones, couldn’t dislike her as a stepmother because she was so ridiculously wonderful.
Together, she and Guy had another child who loved her beyond belief.
She fought for the right for flight attendants to be able to keep their jobs while taking leave to breast-feed their children and later became a para-professional in a special-needs classroom for children with emotional disabilities.
Casey also was a volunteer Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children from abusive and neglectful homes.
She always found the person who struggled to make friends and would bring him or her into the group.
Casey fought cancer for a year and a half, undergoing 21 chemo treatments, radiation, surgery and clinical trials.
She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend. She adored taking care of her grandchildren, spoiling her husband and cat, shopping with friends, eating olives and reading books and magazines.
Casey is predeceased by her mother, Evelyn Black; her father, James Black; her sister, Charlene Black; and her granddaughter, Camille Casey.
She is survived by her husband, Guy; her children, Daneen Casey Lindner, Scott Casey, Holly Casey Wall and Christine Casey Perry. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren, one great-grandchild and her sister, Janet Maltby.
The family will hold a private celebration of Marilyn’s life. Donations in her name may be sent to the Foundation Fighting Blindness at Sisters in honor of her granddaughters, Kate and Beth Lindner.
Christine Casey Perry lives in Denver. She is the daughter of Marilyn Casey.
