Nashua River Watershed Assoc. development director
Drew Casey (Courtesy photo)
Andrew “Drew” Casey, 46, of Portsmouth, N.H., died Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, after succumbing to complications from a bacterial infection.
Since 2006 Drew was development director for the Nashua River Watershed Association in Groton. He worked tirelessly on its capital campaign and applied his irrepressible ability to network for the organization’s benefit. Previously he was development director for the Museums of Old York, where he worked in a similar capacity. Drew also served on the board of the Pontine Theatre and gave generously of his time volunteering and raising money for various philanthropic causes, including Families First, Youth at Risk, the Children’s Aid Society, and The Special Olympics.
Drew was a graduate of the Hotchkiss School Class of 1982 and attended college at Northwestern University, where he earned a B.A. in journalism. He was an avid reader, friend of the arts, and loved to write poetry. Possessed with an indomitable spirit, Drew always found joy in people and took pride in his ability to connect with everyone.
Drew grew up in Redding, Conn., and always maintained a fondness for his childhood home, despite having lived in Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, England, and Portsmouth, N.H. throughout his life.
Drew is survived by his mother and father, Elizabeth B. and Edward J. Cole of Cape Neddick, Maine; his sister, Lisa Rakaseder, and his niece and nephew, Max and Eliza, of Portsmouth, N.H.; his sister and brother-in-law, Kristi and Mark Samber, and his nieces Betsy and Bailey, of Eliot, Maine; a stepbrother, Roger Dev; stepsisters Janica Shafer and Jennifer Cole; several aunts and uncles; and dozens of cousins. He was pre-deceased by his brother-in-law, Stephen Rakaseder, and his half-sister, Dorcas Ann Casey.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the First Parish Church in York, Maine. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Families First or any other of Drew’s philanthropic causes.
