Marion Therese Casey

Marion Therese Casey, age 95 of Notre Dame, Indiana passed away peacefully on September 3, 2026.  She lived at Holy Cross Village in Notre Dame, Indiana. Marion was born on Chicago’s south side in 1930, grew up in St. Clotilde Parish; attended Mercy High School and Rosary College in River Forest Illinois. She received three degrees in History: a BA. from Rosary College, an MA. from the Univ. of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Later, she added another degree in Information Science from San Jose State during the years she taught in California.

Marion began her long career by teaching as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.  She then became an Associate of Sinsinawa and has since remained an active one.  Colleges in Higher Education in which she held positions included the University of Richmond, U. of Illinois, Chicago; Kansas State at Fort Hays, though the ones of longest tenure were at the University of California, Berkeley and at the University of San Francisco.  After retirement from the two California institutions after 32 years, she taught for two years in Europe as a Professor of History in the University of Maryland’s global program for those in military service. She continued this teaching of History in an online format from home in retirement for 10 more years.

Dr. Casey was also granted Fulbright awards from the State Department to teach History in overseas universities: Vietnam; South Korea; Morocco and Russia for an academic year in each location. She especially enjoyed these overseas assignments and remained friends for life with people from those countries. Marion also lectured in Crete, Japan, Bulgaria and Bahrain. These were made possible from Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (three) and the Smithsonian.

Many articles on history, libraries, and teaching appeared throughout her career.  Always supportive of public libraries, she was a lifetime member of the American Library Association as well as history societies. Her book, Charles McCarthy: Librarianship and Reform (ALA Press), won an award from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin as the best book in Wisconsin the year it was published. Since settling in at Notre Dame, research interest in Notre Dame’s history resulted in three articles, one of which won an award from the Catholic Historical Society. These three joined the many other articles she had published.  In researching family archives, she inherited her father’s strong interest. Marion was always active in the life of whatever parish she joined especially St. Mary Magdalene in Berkeley where she served dinners for the homeless.

Marion was preceded in death by her loving siblings, Jane Casey Flynn (Jack), Rita Casey Travers (George), and Robert Michael Casey (Janute). Marion will be buried in the family plot in Mount Olivet, Chicago, a historic cemetery which was the first Catholic Cemetery on the south side of Chicago.

Beloved nieces and nephews:

Sheila Flynn Dropcho (Edward)

Ellen Flynn Clayton (Brian)

Michelle Flynn McElroy (Timothy)

Daniel Flynn (Mary)

Mary Flynn Mahlke (Donald)

John Flynn (Mary)

George Travers (Kathleen)

Robert Travers (Patricia)

Matthew Travers (Debra)

Andrew Travers (Natalie)

And many beloved great nieces and nephews of Marion Casey.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 64 Norfolk Ave, Clarendon Hills, IL 60514. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, 2755 W 111th St, Chicago, IL 60655.

In lieu of flowers please donate to your favorite charity

Or to:

Brothers of Holy Cross, Midwest Province, P.O. Box 460, Notre Dame, IN 46556

Or to:

Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters for Associate Program, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, WI 53642

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