Daniel Richard Casad

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…