one week later.

i can't say much - i am stuck in my thoughts, and the inertia is keeping me silent.  but i want to share the following bits.

first, the obituaries that have been published about mike:

Michael Vosburg-Casey, 39. ¡Presente!

Michael Vosburg-Casey, 39: 'Lived What He Believed"

and the one we wrote:

Michael Edwin Vosburg-Casey

            Michael Vosburg-Casey was born on March 13, 1974 in Palo Alto, California to Tom and Betty Beetley Casey. He grew up in Redwood City, California with his brother Dan and sister Beth. From the age of three, Mike was often found on various rooftops exploring and stargazing. He attended Bellarmine Jesuit High School in San Jose and then crossed the country to go to Colby College in Waterville, Maine where he majored in music.

            Through high school and college, Michael worked for the San Mateo County Park System where he nurtured his love of nature and lived out his philosophy of “When you walk in the woods, don’t follow the trail and don’t leave a trail.”

            When Mike graduated from college he moved to Austin, TX where he learned to roast a pig in the ground, and, as he did throughout his life, developed and maintained strong networks of lifelong friends.  

            A friend wrote recently, “Mike, please be aware that you have created the interaction of the most wildly diverse group of intense humans I have ever seen. You have won!”

            In 1999 Mike moved to Atlanta for a two year term with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He worked at the Central Presbyterian Outreach Center and the Georgia Justice Project. During these years Mike became involved with the Open Door Community and met Amy Vosburg, the love of his life. Amy is an attorney who represents Georgia prisoners on death row with the Georgia Appellate Resource Center.

            In August 2001, Mike moved to the Open Door where lived and worked full time until 2003. His gift for pounding out everybody’s favorites on the piano continued long after he moved out, and he regularly returned to play for the guests in the soup kitchen. In October 2004 Mike and Amy were married and established a home that has welcomed many friends, co-workers and wandering souls.

            In 2006, after many years of discernment and actions against war and violence, Michael crossed the line at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, GA during the annual protest. The SOA (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) has trained thousands of soldiers from South and Central America who have been responsible for death squads, torture and assassinations across the region. After taking part in many of the demonstrations over the years, Mike stepped up to join those who were sentenced to federal prison time for their resistance.  Over the 100 days of his imprisonment, Mike and Amy maintained their partnership and continued their joint work to bring justice and peace inside the walls of prisons and jails and radiating to the streets of our towns and cities.

            In June 2010, Elena Lucille Vosburg-Casey was born to Amy and Mike and Mike became a full-time father. Along with her daddy, Elena visited the sick, went to soup kitchens, and vigiled for peace every Friday. He taught her to sing at the top of her lungs, play the piano in a unique style, dance in the rain, and to never meet a stranger. He read to her every day and helped her to develop an astounding level of curiosity, concentration and verbal skills.

            Mike made a unique contribution in the movement to abolish the death penalty. Every time an execution was scheduled in Georgia, Mike planned a vigil in front of the office of Dr. Carl Musso, the physician hired by the Department of Corrections to administer the lethal drugs. Mike organized protesters to join him to hold signs calling on the doctor to stop his deadly work. Michael’s vigil was an important factor in leading the Georgia legislature to pass a secrecy law that classifies the prison personnel who participate in executions and the source of the prison’s lethal drugs as “state secrets.” This law (which is unconstitutional and out of accord with the state’s “sunshine laws”) is currently being challenged in the courts, and we give thanks for Mike’s work to shine a light on this part of the death machine.

            In December 2011 Mike was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. He struggled through treatments and maintained his ongoing work for peace and justice. Toward the very end of his life, Mike insisted on attending the Friday peace vigil in his wheel chair. It was his last outing. Through it all he maintained his remarkably quirky sense of humor. He died in the loving home that he and Amy have created with the help of hospice and surrounded by devoted family and friends.

            A funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Monday, August 5. A memorial service and will be held on October 5 at the Open Door Community followed by a picnic served by the community.

            Mike Vosburg-Casey’s life remains as an inspiration to action for all who love justice, peace, and the radical vision of the Beloved Community. Deo gratias.   

Written by Murphy Davis in collaboration with Amy Vosburg-Casey, Tom and Betty and Dan Casey, Beth and Vince Casey Pereira, Eduard Loring, and Hannah Murphy Buc.