Shirley Hildegarde (Ledue) Casey OAKLAND – Shirley Hildegarde (Ledue) Casey, 87, of Oakland passed away peacefully at Maine General Hospital in Augusta on August 2, 2025  following a brief illness. She was born October 15, 1937 in Portland, Maine, the youngest child of Byron and Hildegarde Ledue. She grew up in Portland with her brothers Kenneth, Herbert, and Arthur and her sister, Marilyn (Payette). She attended Cathedral High School in Portland with her childhood best friend Ruth McLinden (Bronn) and they remained lifelong friends. She married her husband of 50 years, John “Jack” Casey, Jr. in 1967 whom she met through her friend of many years, Carol Morin. Shirley had varying jobs but her two sons, Daniel and Joel, kept her busy. Nonetheless, she made many friends when she worked over the course of many years at different jobs in the Waterville area, including Seton Hospital, Hilman’s Bakery and Shaw’s Supermarket. While working at Seton Hospital in 1987 she met her best friend, Cheryl Bean-Moody who was a constant presence in her life for 40 years. In her later years, the greatest joy in Shirley’s life was her four grandchildren – Kayla, Brooke, Joshua and Nathan. She had a very close relationship with all of them and was a nurturing presence in their lives as they grew up. Shirley was also blessed with two loving daughters-in law, Danielle who married Dan, and Kara who married Joel. Shirley also loved dogs. She and Jack loved their Beagle, Ginger, whom they adopted from a local shelter and with whom they spent many years and she often regaled others with stories of her “grand dogs” including Rusty, Cooper, Clancy, Cornelius, and Benny.  Shirley will be remembered as a kind, caring, and loving soul who went out of her way to help and comfort others, even complete strangers. She was predeceased by her husband, Jack, and her brothers, Herbert (wives, Frances and Martha) and Kenneth (wife Noella), and sister,  Marilyn (husband Normand) and sister-in-law Doris. She is survived by Dan (Danielle) and Joel (Kara), her grandchildren, Kayla, Brooke, Joshua and Nathan, and her great grandchildren, Jacoby, Liam and Elliot, and her brother Arthur, and two dozen nieces and nephews who she loved dearly.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, August 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. at Notre Dame Du Perpetual Secours, 116 Silver Street, Waterville, Maine.  A private internment will be held for the immediate family following the mass.

Those who wish to may give a gift in her memory to: Somerset Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 453, Skowhegan, ME 04976.  Memories and condolences may be shared on her tribute wall.