Jerry Leon Casey

Jerry Leon Casey of Visalia, CA age 76 went to be with our Lord January 07, 2019. He was born March 17, 1942 to Floyd George Casey and Ethel Evelue Sinner Ferguson in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As a young child he and his family moved to Taft, Then to New London, Dinuba, California, where he was raised. He attended Traver Elementary School and finished at Hoover High School in Los Angeles. His first job was planting sweet potatoes. He then worked as a trainee mechanic. He was a good listener and enjoyed the company of the elders, learning from them and picked up on their knowledge. As a young lad he went bumming with a close friend and Jerry was amazed at how knowledgeable and artistic people were. He moved to Blythe, CA and drove an ice cream truck, but he couldn't afford to keep that job, as he kept giving away too many of the ice creams. So he got back into the mechanic trade. He next moved to the Los Angeles area and worked in construction, learning the trade of a cement finisher. He met his wife Cathleen "Cathy" Orendorff at the grocery store where he shopped and she worked. They went on their first date on Sept. 13, 1962 and were married October 13, 1962 and he went deer hunting two weeks during that month. In Feb. 1963 he was offered a job as a forklift mechanic. The company Robert H. Braun trained him and treated him so very well he never wanted to leave. In 1964, they had their first son Jerald Casey while in the Los Angeles area. Jerry loved being a father and enjoyed his son. He decided to move back to Central California, first moving to Fresno only to be transferred 3 months later to Porterville while working for Gray Lift, then to Strathmore. In 1970 he was offered a service managers job at Lift All in Modesto living in Riverbank, CA, when their second son Garrett Casey was born, while they lived in that area. Jerry was so excited to have another son, whom he loved so dearly. A month later he moved back to Tulare County in Lindsay. In 1972 he was transferred to the Visalia area, still working for Gray Lift, where he raised his family. Jerry started his own forklift business Kaweah Lift, Inc. in 1981 where he worked until his retirement. At that time he pursued his art work still doing sketches while making metal gates incorporating his artistic flowers, grapes and even ship with all the rigging into the design with a solar light house. An award winning artist, he was very artistic in many mediums, enjoying what ever met his fancy. He loved life and people very much. He stayed active with all kinds of hobbies; sketching, oil painting, stained glass, etching glass and mirrors, boating, fishing, hunting (in his later years he would only hunt with a camera), camping, dirt bike riding, gold panning, cooking, and golfing. He especially loved flying, owning his own airplane. He was always making something for someone. He just enjoyed putting a smile on everyone's face whether it be a creation of his or to tell a joke. He loved his family and being with them. Jerry was a very honest man, with a high degree of integrity. He will be missed by all that knew him. He is survived by his wife, two sons Jerald (Linda) and Garrett (Kathy), four grandsons, Jared, Jorden, Nicholas, and Nathan. One great grandson, Jackson and several step-grandchildren and step-great grandchildren, one sister Elizabeth Anne Armour (Harvie) and one half-brother Clovis Gene Baker, one sister-in-law Constance Dulley, and several nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, father and mother, one sister Nona Faye Mankins, and two nephews.

Jerry Leon Casey

March 17, 1942 - January 7, 2019