William Carmen Chasey

1940 - 2015

Bill passed away in San Diego, CA, after a valiant six-year battle with Multiple Myeloma and Leukemia.
Bill was a man of many God given interests and talents. He was an educator, Marine, research scientist, lobbyist, pilot, author, inventor, political advisor, entrepreneur and humanitarian.
The son of William and Hazel Chasey, Bill grew up in Trenton, NJ, where he attended Pennsbury High. He earned his BA from Springfield College, an MA from East Carolina State and his PhD from the University of Maryland in 1969. In 1985, he was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters from National University, for his humanitarian work and public service.
Inspired by the film, Battle Cry, Bill joined the U.S. Marine Corps during his freshman year of college. He was commissioned at graduation and was honourably discharged in 1965 as a First Lieutenant.
His was a lifetime of service and dedication to making a difference in the world. In particular, he was a man on a mission to make life better for children with disabilities and those in need.
Dr. Chasey had a stellar academic career devoted to the study of mentally and physically disabled children at the Universities of Texas, Ohio State and George Washington. He held the first and only John F. Kennedy Chair and Professorship at Vanderbilt University (1972-1975).
Bill left the halls of academia to become a Washington lobbyist. Two of his proudest achievements were getting Congress to pass the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 and crafting the Central American Peace Plan in 1987, for which Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica, received the Nobel Peace Prize. As an advisor to Ronald Reagan during his 1980 Presidential campaign, Bill spearheaded the first National Christian Voter Registration Program.
He and his wife, Virginia, founded The Third World Prosthetics Foundation in 1987, providing thousands of free prosthetics to victims of land mines in Central America. They received the Humanitarian Award for their work in 1990, from Alfredo Cristiani, President of El Salvador.
Bill wrote a number of books on the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103. At the time of his death, he was in pre-production on a film titled Influence, based on his writings and experiences during that time.
The Chaseys moved to Poland in 1997, where Bill served as a consultant to the International and Polish Red Cross. Moved by the poverty he saw in Eastern/Central Europe, he started the Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility in 2002. To date, FCSR has fed over 5 million hot meals and provided English, dance and music programs to some of Poland's and Bulgaria's neediest children. Bill remained FCSR's President and CEO until his death.
He was a wonderful husband, a loving father and a faithful friend. Bill had the incredible gift of touching the lives of everyone he met. He had a keen sense of humor that brought laughter to every occasion. His heartfelt interest in people and their personal stories made everyone feel special.
In the end, he wanted to be remembered as a man who lived his faith everyday and a man who was just a servant to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He leaves behind his beloved wife of 36 years, Virginia; daughter, Katie; sister, Georgianne; two daughters by a previous marriage, Cherie and Christie; two grandchildren, Zoe and Occie; plus so many other family members he enjoyed.
Bill would want to give thanks to the wonderful doctors and nurses on the Bone Marrow Transplant Teams at both Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Moores Cancer Center, San Diego. They all became like second family to him and Virginia.
An open celebration of Bill's life will be held on Saturday, June 27, 2015, 10:30 AM at The Village Presbyterian Church, 6225 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility, www.fcsr.pl.
Jesus said, "Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." – John 11:25