Ella Mae Casey

Ella Mae Casey aka "Casey," 92, of Newport and most recently Langdon Place in Keene died October 10, 2022 at the Cheshire Medical Center after a brief illness. She was the wife of James W. Casey who predeceased her on March 7, 2014. Mrs. Casey was born June 6, 1930, to Albert Milton and Lillian Josephine (Train) Erikson in Worcester, Mass.

A native of Massachusetts, she also had deep roots in Henniker and Bradford, NH where her mother's family (the Adams) originally of Newbury Mass in the 1630's, settled in the late 1780's. Ella spent summers in Bradford working for her mother in the kitchen at Camp Blaisdell and frolicking through the woods at their summer cottage. At camp, she enjoyed working with her mom and she would often reminisce with us about tasks like peeling hundreds of pounds of potatoes. These tasks instilled ethics such as hard work, humility and helping others; ethics which lasted a lifetime. Early life was fun and she was a bit of a tomboy in an age where young ladies didn't normally play baseball, help their dads work on cars or fix things around the house, but she did! She was a bit mischievous, too, often playing pranks on her elderly aunts/uncles and cousins, racing cars as she got older, playing an electric fiddle in a band and working hard, while enjoying life. It was not unusual to see her with a beer and cigar in her hand throughout the years.

After high school she attended Clark University before marrying the boy who "was always there." Becoming the love of her life, she married Jimmy Casey on July 12, 1954. They enjoyed many adventures together throughout their 59 years of marriage. He was in the military for 20+ years and they enjoyed living in Maryland, Maine, Bermuda, and California. They enjoyed go- cart racing, watching baseball (dad played), playing softball, boat and car racing. Her favorites included the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. She worked in banking operations throughout their many tours and this trade eventually brought her to Newport in 1966 with her two daughters while her husband was finishing up his military career abroad. She was initially only going to stay a year, but the citizens of Newport were so welcoming and her career was settling in, they decided to buy a house on Oak Street Extension to raise their family.

She was always very busy in social activities, clubs and volunteering including being the first woman little league baseball coach in the early 70's and playing powder puff football to raise money for something. One of her fondest, most exciting memories was campaigning for and meeting President Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter in Newport prior to his winning the election; unfortunately, she was not able to attend the inauguration due to other commitments. After working on Main Street for 30 years, she retired from the 1st NH Bank (3rd name change) in 1996 and moved on to a couple of other jobs before becoming the Newport Chamber of Commerce Director. In 2021, she retired from the Chamber at 91 years young. She said this was the best job in the world, getting to see everyone and meet folks from all different backgrounds with stories to share.

Casey was a true doer, never one to sit back and watch, she always jumped right in to help. Some of her Board duties, clubs and committees during the 52 years she spent in Newport included: Supervisor of the Checklist, the Jaycees, Newport Winter Carnival, Newport Booster Club, Newport Business & Professional Women's Club, Chamber of Commerce (Board), Community Alliance of Human Services, Sugar River Chicks, Red Hats, Newport Rotary Club, Economic Development Corporation, Newport 250th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Newport Loan Advisory Committee, Newport Planning Board, Newport Historical Society, Women of the Moose and South Congregational Church. Apologies to any we might have missed.

After retirement from banking, she also traveled the world with her beloved sister. During her seventies and eighties, she visited Australia, Hawaii, China, Great Britain, Ireland, Egypt, Israel, a cruise of the Panama Canal, and a cruise of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean - where they'd let them in!

Casey truly lived a full and wonderful life. A true leader, patient and kind, honest and steadfast, she held to her convictions according to her conscience without regard to popularity. She was a full-fledged humanitarian, animal rights activist, equal rights activist and pro-choicer.

Ella is survived by daughters Patricia Dickinson and her husband Elbert, and Jamie Teague and her husband Christopher, granddaughter Elan Dickinson and her husband Shawn, and her beloved sister whom she lived with for many years, Erna McCormick. She is also survived by cousins, nieces and nephews.

Services: Arrangements are being handled by the Newton-Bartlett Funeral Parlor in Newport. There will be no viewing hours. A funeral service officiated by Pastors Daniel Adam and Tracey Bailey will be held on Saturday, October 29 at the South Congregational Church beginning at 10:30 am followed by burial of both Mr. & Mrs. Casey & their beloved dog George at the North Newport Cemetery. A celebration of life with refreshments will follow where friends will be encouraged to share their memories at the Newport Moose Lodge, 18 Golf Club Road, Newport, from 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. Please feel free to attend any or all of the events planned.

The family has requested in lieu of cards and flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sullivan County Humane Society, PO. Box 111, Claremont, NH 03743 in her memory. "People will take care of people, but the innocent animals need our help." She was a supporter of many animal charities.

The family would like to thank the compassionate and caring nurses and employees of Langdon Place in Keene and the compassionate and caring nurses and doctors at Cheshire Medical Center as well as DHMC-Lebanon. Appreciation also to Archie Mountain, Jeanne Tempest and Kristen Senz for their news coverage in the Eagle Times of Ella throughout the years, excerpts taken from their articles.