Mayor Kevin Casey, ‘Mr. Hometown,’ Dies At Age 68

HOMETOWN, IL — First-generation Hometowner Kevin Casey, who was elected mayor in 2009 after running as a write-in candidate, died unexpectedly Friday evening of what friends say was a heart attack. Casey served as mayor of the roughly ten-square block community since 2009. He was 68. Visitation and Mass of Christian Burial will take Place Wednesday and Thursday.

“This is such a shocker,” said Casey’s friend and mentor, Jim Sexton, the former mayor of Evergreen Park. “He was a great man and an incredible mayor for Hometown, probably the best they ever had. They were making good progress as of late.”

Casey was born on Nov. 7, 1954, to the late Jim and Marilyn Casey. He was the fourth of six children: Maureen Pannaralla, Joan (Mike) Cellini, Jim Casey, Marilou Casey and Karen (Steve) Cichon.

A lifelong resident, Casey was “Mr. Hometown” to his neighbors and constituents. Casey married a Hometown girl, Cathy, his wife of 47 years. The couple raised four children in the community, sons Kevin and Tim, and daughters Michelle (Kyle) and Melissa (Dave).

Casey’s father bought the third ranch duplex for sale in Hometown in what was then a planned community for returning World War II and Korean War GIs during the U.S. housing shortage. Within a few short years, residents paved the streets, installed sidewalks, opened a shopping center, and built a parish and grammar school. By 1953, the community had become so successful and self-sustaining that it was incorporated as a city.

“I was born and raised in Hometown and I married a girl who was born and raised in Hometown,” Casey told Patch in 2013. “I’m about as Hometown as you can get.”

When a devastating EF-4 tornado hit the Oak Lawn and Hometown area in 1967, killing 33 area residents and leveling three blocks in Hometown, Casey pitched in as a teen in the aftermath.

“As youths, we jumped on a dump truck and helped clean up,” Casey said. “Then you went to the VFW where they gave you lunch. You’d go back out and clean up some more.”

Becoming mayor of Hometown was one of his proudest achievements, when he beat the incumbent mayor in 2009 as a write-candidate. During his tenure as mayor, Casey fought to bring federal and state dollars to Hometown to help repair streets and infrastructure, ushered in new business, and revitalized Anderson Park with a new splash pad.

“He was very proud of 87th Street and Pulaski that had been a mess for years,” Sexton said. “He led efforts to redevelop the corner by building a beautiful new building with a car wash, and was making progress in getting new business into Hometown Center.”

Casey was also ahead of the curve in recognizing the deleterious effects of rumors and misinformation spread on social media. He introduced monthly “Facts Not Facebook” town hall meetings, inviting residents to ask their local officials questions about crime and other rumors.

Prior to being elected mayor, he served ten years as a Hometown alderman. Casey was also an elected member on the Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 and Evergreen Park Elementary Dist. 124.

Casey retired from the trucking industry in 2020, early in the pandemic. He was also a long-time parishioner of Our Lady of Loretto Church, prior to its merger with St. Germaine in Oak Lawn. Always involved in the community, he coached youth sports and made a point of attending his 11 grandchildren’s sporting events: Katie, Danny, Quin, Cal, Delaney, Mason, Shea, Archie, Wolf, Vivienne, and Mick.

“I talked to him last week. He was on his way to his granddaughter’s volleyball game. He was always busy and spent a lot of time in Hometown trying to make things happen,” Sexton said.

Casey bristled when outsiders referred to his beloved Hometown as a “suburb” of Oak Lawn or Evergreen Park, or as an extension of Mount Greenwood. He took pride that his community maintained its Mayberry-esque qualities in the shadow of Chicago, where there was still a plenty of room for kids to ride their bikes and neighbors watched out for one another.

“When my dad bought his house, my grandfather told him it wouldn’t last five years,” Casey said during Hometown’s 60th anniversary celebration in 2013. “We’re still going strong. There is still a need for affordable starter homes.”

Casey also leaves his sisters-in-law, Pam and Linda, brother-in-law Roger (Nadine), his Foley brothers and sisters, and many loving nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the Andrew McGann & Son Funeral Home, 10727 S. Pulaski Road, Chicago. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place 10 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 15, at Our Lady at St. Germaine, 9711 S Kolin Ave, Oak Lawn. Online condolences may be left for the Casey family at McGann.