Joseph Sidney McCaskill

1953 - 2017

Joseph Sidney McCaskill

Jackson

Joseph Sidney McCaskill, 63, died Saturday, May 27, 2017, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held at Parkway Funeral Home on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. Visitation begins at 12:30 at the funeral home with the service being held there at 2:30 p.m. Burial at Parkway Memorial Cemetery immediately following the service

Joe McCaskill was born November 23, 1953, in Prentiss, Mississippi, to Thomas Alexander McCaskill and Roma Carrie McCaskill. After his father's death in 1958, the family moved to Jackson where Joe attended Jackson Public Schools through his graduation from Central High School in 1972. Joe accepted a baseball scholarship at Belhaven College (now Belhaven University) and started all four years, graduating in 1976.

For those contemporaries, teammates and opponents who were lucky enough to see him play basketball and baseball in his youth, Joe McCaskill was, and remains, one of the finest athletes Jackson has ever produced. He attended Central High School, in the stately brick structure located in the middle of downtown Jackson that had attracted the state's best faculty, coaches and top performing students in every field until 1955 before changing demographics in the city and then massive desegregation of the Jackson Public Schools let to attrition resulting in Central's closing in 1977. In Joe's three years in the last decade of old Central he lead the basketball and baseball teams to remarkable records, earning him the recognition as Mississippi's "Mr. Baseball," the award for the state's most outstanding player in baseball during his senior year in 1972. Under legendary Coach Willis Steenhaus, Central cobbled together a team around Joe's right arm and ability to hit under pressure unmatched in the experience of those were witnesses, and in 1972 came within a pitch of winning the District championship. In 1998, Joe was inducted into the Semi-Pro Hall of Fame; at age 16 Joe was playing shortstop on semi-pro teams with ex-professional ballplayers then in their thirties, with Willis Steenhaus still pitching into his forties, and at the old Air Base field gave Jackson some of the greatest baseball talent and raw drama ever seen in the city. Joe continued to display his unsurpassed talent in four years at Belhaven, earning him numerous awards, ultimately being inducted into the Belhaven Blazer's Hall Of Fame in 2004. Every person who saw Joe play in those years remembers him to this day, and all are saddened by the loss of the boy who did such stunning things on fields around Jackson, and the man whose kindness of heart and humility may have exceeded his athletic talents and stayed with him to the end. For those who knew Joe, all of those memories and the rare qualities he embodied will be missed but will remain with us every day of our lives.

In 1978 Joe married the love of his life: Debra Ann House. Joe and Debbie made their home in Jackson where they had three children, all as talented and as beautiful as their parents. Joe was a successful businessman in the Jackson area, owning several companies including Mac's Inc., and Champion Hill. He was an active member of First Baptist Church of Jackson and served on the Foundation Board at Baptist Health Systems, as well as serving on the Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Bank. Throughout his life, Joe was an avid hunter and outdoorsman and continued to love sports, especially baseball. Joe was so proud when his son, Joseph, played baseball for Mississippi State University. Joe and Debbie never missed a game. The years the family spent together in bleachers all over the SEC were among the best years of their lives. Joe and Debbie took the entire family on many great trips and adventures all over the world.

"Daddy Joe" to his children and grandchildren (and anyone close to the family), Joe McCaskill was above all a family man. His love for his wife and his children was his primary focus every day of his life. Everyone loved "Daddy Joe" and counted on him to be there; and he always was. His longtime brother-in-law, Jeff Atkins, noted, "I cannot even imagine Jackson without Joe McCaskill there."

Everybody who knew him loved Joe McCaskill. Though physically large with an athlete's build and grace that he never lost, he was unfailingly gently and kind to all he met. And, unlike most of us, he had the heart and the love to be the same kind and patient soul in the privacy of his own home. Joe McCaskill had no dark side, he was always filled with light and hope. One always left Joe's company feeling a little bit better about everything. We will all miss the comfort and security of that feeling, but none more than his devoted family.

Joe is survived by his wife of 39 years, Debbie House McCaskill, daughters, Rivers McCaskill Walker and husband Shaun of Jackson, Alex McCaskill Cooper and husband Chase of Memphis, and his son Joseph McCaskill, Jr. and his wife Jennifer of Madison, his mother-in-law Julia House Stokes of Madison, his sister-in-law Kathy House Atkins and her husband Jeff of Madison, brother-in-law Alan House and his wife Marsha of Southhaven, and many nieces and nephews. Joe's lasting legacy and the accomplishment of which he was most proud was his grandchildren: Campbell Leland Walker, Carolina Rivers Walker, Christopher Joseph Walker of Jackson; Gehrig Joseph Boyce McCaskill and Emery Estelle McCaskill of Madison; and McCaskill May Cooper of Memphis.

The family would like to especially thank Jana Hunt for her devoted care and concern over the last months. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Heart Association.