Casey
Charles Dennis Casey (Chuck, a.k.a. Chuckie), 59, of St Marys passed away on May 6, 2021, in Jacksonville, Florida, of cancer.
The memorial service will be held at WECC The Lighthouse, 5465 Highway 40 in St. Marys, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 10. Paul Hafer will be officiating this celebration of life.
Chuck was born in St. Marys on June 8, 1961. He graduated from Camden County High School. He lived a blessed, and exciting life, with a long list of accolades. In his early life as an act of rebellion, he would hitchhike to North Carolina to meet up with his older brother, Ronnie Pitts, to work the tobacco fields.
Then he helped his mother, Lois Vernon, and father, Edison Casey, with the oversight and foundation of two radio stations. He worked at the FM station KC93 with lifelong friend, beloved Camden County radio personality and small-town celebrity Randy Horn. The AM station, WECC, is still today shining God’s light over the Camden County airwaves, standing as the one of the crowning achievements, and longtime dream of Chuck’s mother and business partner, Lois Vernon. WECC is still owned by lifelong family friends, Paul and Vicky Hafer, who continue in the vision and purpose of which Chuck’s mother, Lois, laid the foundations for all those years before.
After his father fell ill, Chuck was forced to give up his dream of being a surgeon, and take over the day-to-day operation of two Casey’s stores — one in Nassau County, Florida, on U.S. Highway 17 and one in Duval County on Pecan Park Road. During his time as president and CEO of Casey’s Inc., Chuck oversaw thousands of acres of property and radio towers from St. Augustine, Florida, to Brunswick. During that time, his store in Nassau County, “Casey’s,” became the top lottery retailer in the state of Florida for multiple years running as Chuck worked with the then new Florida Lottery Commission.
His nightclub, “The Hideaway,’’ built after the original Casey’s burned down in 1986 became the place for live entertainment, with names like, Kitty Wells, John Anderson and hometown favorite Georgia Heartbeat, playing every weekend. Casey’s and The Hideaway were staples of Camden and Nassau counties until he decided to sell due to his own health issues. Doctors told him to kill the stress before it killed him. He said “God answered my prayers and helped me sell three stores in under six months. ‘Cause if one had sold and not the other, I would have been tempted to keep the others. But with them all selling so fast, I made a clean break.” At its peak, Chuck owed and operated three package stores, two bars and a souvenir and fruit stand.
After the sale of the Casey’s stores and while working in the commercial sales department of Security Link. Chuck was in a life-altering car accident in which he was run off the road by a tractor trailer and nearly lost his life. After nearly 10 years of treatments that did nothing to help his condition, he met up with chiropractor, quick friend and fellow woodsman Mark Pierce of Jacksonville. After seeing his condition, Dr. Pierce, provided the holistic/medical treatments that saw Chuck through to a nearly full recovery. All this for the low price of a half dozen or so hunting trips a year.
After his recovery and almost 10 years of forced retirement, Chuck opened C&C Auto and Penske Truck Rental. Shortly after its grand opening and upon seeing the devastation of hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, which coincidentally coincided with the birth of his second grandchild, Chuck wanted to find a way to help. So he joined up with Caring Hearts, a Christian-based charity that specializes in disaster relief and became one of Camden County’s first responders. Working with Caring Hearts, he donated trucks and used his newly acquired Christian bookstore, Living Waters, as a platform to collect, deliver and distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in much-needed relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquakes in Haiti and the Sri Lanka tsunami.
Over 50 and still going, rubbing elbows with the likes of Shad Kahn of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he finally made it to the “big show.” He was offered a job working for the commander and chief of the USA, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in Jacksonville. And being the Trump fan that he was, there was no place he’d rather be. Walking on a cane, he helped canvas the Jacksonville area with his “Make America Great” hat. He was even offered a full-time salaried position with the Jacksonville RNC and Duval GOP.
In his life, he met celebrities like Kitty Wells, The Judds, John Anderson, Billy and Jimmy Carter, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Vice President Mike Pence, and Donald Trump, the big dog himself. Chuck was an expert woodsman, and fishermen, could captain any boat, read waters like a pro and found more sharks teeth than anyone I’ve ever known. (He used to say when you see the color, you could always find them.) He was a loving and gracious father of two boys, Charles D. Casey Jr., 39, and Christopher A. Casey, 35. He was also father and coach to hundreds if not thousands of boys from football fields, baseball All-Stars trips and Boy Scout troops. He never met a stranger, just new “brothers.” Always there with a hug, a joke, a pat on the back or whatever someone needed. Never would turn out a person in need and would give anyone the shirt off his back if he or she needed it. Seems like everyone in Camden and Nassau counties has lived at his place at some point or another.
Shoes like his are not the kind easily filled, so instead of attempting the impossible, we can just offer a humble and sincere thank you to the man who wanted to be a surgeon, but when his family needed him he gave up his dreams for his father’s. He continued to put others first, especially those he considered to be his family. On May 6, 2021, Heaven got brighter and the Earth got a little darker.
Chuck is survived by Terri Mosel, his fiancé who stood with him until his last breath; five grandchildren, Rudy, Faith, Cara, Caleb and Hope; his brother Ronnie Pitts, and sister, Bonita Casey; two sons, Charles D. Casey Jr. and Christopher Allen Casey, and a daughter in law of 20-plus years Trudy Rosset-Casey; nephews Thomas Casey, “Lil Ronnie” Pitts, and Bobby Pitts; and also the family he chose, Mike Newcomb, J.R. Head, and the Coffel family, Jason, Michelle, Lacy, Tiffany, Scooby and Isabella.
Chuck is preceded in death by his father, Edison Casey; mother Lois Vernon; and beloved big brother, Tommy Casey. Not all family share blood, therefore this list would not be complete without mention of Greg Bordenkircher, Tom Peters and Randy Horn.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may can be made at https://gofund.me/2919a0f7 to help with burial expenses.