Michael Vosburg-Casey found happiness in a life of volunteerism, satisfaction in protesting the things he felt were wrong with the world and fulfillment in giving a voice to populations who have been marginalized by society.
“He really lived what he believed,” said his brother, Dan Casey, of Haddonfield, N.J. “Sure there are people who have strong beliefs about something, but not many are willing to do what Michael did.”
Protesting Fort Benning’s School of Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation; the death penalty and participating in peace vigils were just a few of the causes Vosburg-Casey took up. A native of Redwood City, Calif., Vosburg-Casey “never had a desire to do anything official,” said his wife Amy Vosburg-Casey. He never sought employment within the systems he fought against, which was perfectly fine with his wife.
“His activism was always on his own terms,” she said. “It was very important to him not to have a paying job. He did several volunteer programs where he would receive a living stipend, but he never had a job where he had a salary.”
Michael Edwin Vosburg-Casey of Atlanta died July 31 from complications of colon cancer. He was 39.
A memorial Mass was held Monday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Atlanta. A second memorial service is planned for Oct. 5 at the Open Door Community, where he lived for a period of time, followed by a community picnic. Brown & Young Home of Funerals was in charge of cremation arrangements.
Before coming to Atlanta in 1999, Vosburg-Casey graduated from Colby College, in Waterville, Maine, with a degree in music. He arrived in Atlanta, after working in Austin, Texas, courtesy of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, because he applied to be in the southeastern portion of the country, his wife said. He worked at Central Presbyterian’s Central Outreach & Advocacy Center and with the Georgia Justice Project, where he met the former Amy Vosburg.
“Mike and I both shared that passion for fighting for people,” said Vosburg-Casey, who is an attorney with the Georgia Appellate Resource Center. “He and I just had a different way of expressing that passion.”
In 2006 Michael Vosburg-Casey’s convictions led him to cross the demarcation fence at Fort Benning while protesting the former School of Americas, a facility on the military base near Columbus. He was sentenced to 100 days in a federal prison.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal Constitution after his 2007 sentencing, he said he was proud to be a “prisoner of conscience.”
Vosburg-Casey was not a man who wavered in his beliefs, no matter the situation, his brother said. Casey recalled a 2010 trip to a Philadelphia Phillies/San Francisco Giants baseball game. Being from the Bay area, the brothers remained life-long Giants fans, so when their team made it to the playoffs and had a game not far from Casey’s home, the brothers decided to go.
“He demanded that we wear our Giants gear to the Philadelphia stadium,” Casey said with a laugh. “And it was fun, but that was Michael. He never took the easy way out.”
In addition to his wife of eight years and brother, Vosburg-Casey is survived by his 3-year-old daughter, Elena Lucille Vosburg-Casey; parents, Tom and Betty Casey of Redwood City; and sister, Beth Pereira of Redwood City.
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