Obituary of Clifford H. Casey

Dr. Clifford H. Casey, who with his wife attended to the medical needs of friends and neighbors in Voorheesville for nearly five decades, died of a heart attack at home on Oct. 8, 2016. He was 89. Clif met Shirley Atkins, a nurse from Westerlo, on a blind date. They were married June 27, 1953. Since 1959, the couple ran a mom and pop medical practice from their home at 6 Voorheesville Ave., where patients came for treatments and lengthy social visits. Shirley set appointments and assisted in the office. Weekends were punctuated by emergencies handled between household chores. The doctor made house calls. When he retired in 2004, the community celebrated his connection to Voorheesville and his commitment to an endangered profession. Clif and Shirley, constant companions for 63 years, enjoyed car rides and dining out. Hours before he died, they had lunch in Duanesburg and took a drive through the fall foliage of the Helderbergs. Clif was well known to “score a few points” by stopping along roadsides to cut flowers for his wife. He led his children and grandchildren on explorations that invariably included stops for ice cream, candy and doughnuts. He had a fascination for all things mechanical, a passion for mowing his lawn (and those of his neighbors) and a powerful need to enter any door marked “No Admittance.” He had a disarming and self-deprecating sense of humor. A musician who came of age in the Big Band era, he played clarinet and saxophones in bands in the Capital Region and Maine. Other interests included ham radio, fishing, travel and tinkering in his workshop. He spent summers at his family camp in Maine, where last August he re-connected with friends, enjoyed his grandchildren and supervised the restoration of a childhood boat. Active in the community, he was a 32-year member of the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department. He helped build the original garage of the Voorheesville Ambulance. He was the physician for Voorheesville schools and a fixture on the sidelines at Blackbirds football games. A member of the house staff at Albany Medical Center, he was also a professor at Albany Medical College, mentoring future doctors in family medicine. Born in 1927, he was the son of the late Horace and Edith (Herber) Casey of Elsmere. He graduated from Bethlehem High School in 1944 as class president, and went on to earn a degree in biology from Union College in 1949. His college education was interrupted by service in U.S. Navy hospitals in Bainbridge, Md., and St. Albans, N.Y. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1955. He did an internship at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine, and his residency at Albany Med. Survivors include Shirley, his wife of 63 years; two sons, Art (Sue) of Canton, Conn., and Charlie (Barb) of Alplaus; a brother, Arthur, of Clifton Park; a niece, Ann Bullock of Saratoga Springs; a nephew, David of Burlington, Vt.; and six grandchildren, Matt, Brian, Sarah, Megan, Jillian and Andy. Calling hours will be Friday, Oct. 14, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Reilly and Son Funeral Home, 9 Voorheesville Ave. A memorial service will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the social hall of the First United Methodist Church of Voorheesville, 68 Maple Ave. Memorial contributions may be made to Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department, 12 Altamont Rd., Voorheesville, N.Y. 12186