Daniel Richard Casad (“Dan”), 68, peacefully entered his heavenly home on November 4, 2019.
While Dan’s time on earth was short, his unwavering faith in God and his dedicated devotion to
his family and friends will last forever in the hearts of all those Dan lovingly embraced.
Dan was born to the late John and Marjorie Casad in Medford, Oregon, on June 8, 1951. His
parents instilled the values of Christian living in young “Danny” which would serve him well
throughout his life. Dan invited Jesus into his life and grew in his walk with the Lord at the First
Baptist Church in Medford. This Christ-centered foundation would serve Dan from an early age
and be his lifelong support. For many years, he served on the Deacon Board of Valley Bible
Fellowship in Talent, Oregon. From 1996-98, Dan and his wife Janie worked with Wycliffe Bible
Translators in Burkina Faso, West Africa. There Dan utilized his many mechanical skills to keep
the missionaries’ cars running, as well as manage the ministry’s operation and building
expansion.
Dan attended Howard Elementary School and in the late 1960, his parents moved to the
Coleman Creek property next to his Mom’s birthplace built by Dan’s grandfather. There on this
multi-acre wooded, Creekside property, Dan’s father constructed the first Casad family home
and established his on-site automotive business. Dan attended Talent Junior High where he
played football and gained a lasting love of sports, particularly high school and college football.
He graduated from Phoenix High School in 1969 and worked with his father in the shop for ten
years. For the next nine-plus years, he worked in the wood-products industry. Finally in 1988,
he ventured out to start his own business, Auto Surgeon Chassis, focusing on race cars and
street rods. Dan quickly gained a solid reputation for his automotive mechanical and
restoration work, race car and chassis design, and most of all his impeccable Christ-centered
integrity. On any day, vendors, customers, and friends could be seen in Dan’s shop deeply
involved in conversations concerning the day’s events, life challenges, or family circumstances;
the backdrop of these shared moments included vehicles in progress, God’s principles always at
the ready to be shared by Dan with the listeners gathered there. What all witnessed in these
many interactions was a man after God’s own heart, a man of uncommon integrity, and a man
with whom there is no guile.
His favorite verse was Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what
God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
Dan met and married Janie Buckwalter, the love of his life in 1982. Dan cultivated loving
relationships and was blessed with a caring and compassionate family. He and Janie worked
together to assist in the upbringing of Dawn, Dan’s daughter from his former marriage. Their
mutual love of the Creator and their appreciation and care of His Creation would lead them to
expand the Casad family home on the Coleman Creekside property that Dan had built in 1976.
Little by little, he carved out the woods and developed the park-like setting with its
Thanksgiving Fountain and gardens. He recreated the “Cabin” from the modest little shed that
was home to his great-grandfather in the 1920’s. Creekside stands as a living testament to
Dan’s vison and Dan and Janie’s joy in working together to share God’s bounty and beauty with
many family, friends, and visitors from all over the globe as guests in the Creekside Cabin.
Dan’s greatest joy was his grandchildren and faithfully prayed daily for them. He encouraged his
daughter Dawn and son-in-law Matt as they instilled God’s love in their children. Often, Dan
shared and enjoyed family RV trips to see the natural beauty of parks and many sites in Oregon
and the western states always pointing the kids to the Creator.
Just two weeks before his passing, his pastor’s wife returned a Bible to Dan she’d come across
in the church library. This was not just “any” Bible; this was a Bible presented to him almost 60
years ago on his 8 th Birthday, June 8, 1959, by his parents. On the presentation page of this
Bible, his mother had directed his attention to this Scripture:
Psalm 37:18 “The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.”
How true! Dan’s time here on earth is over, but his eternal inheritance with Christ in heaven is
just beginning.
Dan was a Christ-centered, compassionate listener at heart. He was kind and well-spoken. His
caring and thoughtful insight was realistically framed. Dan always had time to answer a
question or help solve a problem, no matter how small. He is dearly missed by his loved ones,
who celebrate the fact that he is at peace with his Creator and alive with Jesus.
Dan is survived by his wife Janie, daughter Dawn and husband Matt Price, grandchildren Noah,
Autumn and Hollie, nephew Greg Casad, brothers- and sisters-in-law, John and Janet
Buckwalter, Ray and Kathy Buckwalter, Jess Ginder, Tim and Gina Boyle, Julie and Ross
Macdonald, Sherry and John Webb, and their children, and the multitude of Casad cousins.
Rest in Peace my Brother…Love the Lord, and follow Jesus…and Keep on Keep’n on…
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