Casey Mayer loved few things more than a good game. Whether it was golf, tennis, baseball, softball, bowling, euchre, pinochle or Wii bowling, he played it with enthusiasm, doubly so if family were involved. His game of life ended July 11, passing quietly with family near.
Clarence (Casey) David Mayer was born at home on farm near Junction City, Wisconsin, on April 23, 1923, to Mary (Forsyth) and August Mayer, the fourth of five children. He got his first taste of playing ball (and sacrificed a few teeth in the process) while attending White Lily, a one-room school house at the edge of the farm. He and his younger brother Marvin moved to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to finish high school where he took up boxing and attempted ski jumping until his skis broke. He had just begun attending Stevens Point Teacher College (now University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point) when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and, like so many of his generation, he left college to join the Army Air Corps in hopes of becoming a pilot. Instead, he trained as a navigator/bombardier and flew 30 B-29 (Superfortress) missions from Saipan to Tokyo between November 1944 and July 1945.
After the war, he finished his bachelor's degree at Stevens Point and began teaching math and chemistry in New Glarus, Wisconsin. It was there that he met kindergarten teacher Ina Gill, the love of his life. They were married on April 10, 1949.
In 1952, he began teaching math at the newly opened Freeport Junior High School where he also coached eighth-grade football. He served in the Air Force Reserves and tested soil part-time for the Farm Bureau while continuing his education, earning a master's degree in chemistry from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (now Missouri University of Science and Technology) in Rolla, Missouri, in 1964. He switched to teaching chemistry at Highland Community College in Freeport, where he also coached tennis and golf. In his retirement years, he taught math classes and got a chance to see more of the world through the U.S. Navy's P.A.C.E. program, sometimes meeting former students from Freeport in far away places. He fulfilled his dream of becoming a pilot, co-owning a single engine plane and making frequent trips from Albertus Airport to other small air fields and joining the Freeport Pilots Association. And all the while, he played in numerous softball, bowling, golf, and tennis leagues, was active in the Golden K Kiwanis and as a member of First Lutheran Church. He and Ina visited family across the U.S. and served as campground hosts in Missouri and New Mexico.
The Mayers moved to Parkview after he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, which sadly kept him off the tennis courts and eventually the golf course but didn't end his love of competition. At Parkview, he organized euchre games and Wii bowling and also served on the resident's board for several years and regaled the staff with his war stories.
In addition to his wife, Ina, he is survived by daughters, Jean Mayer of Tampa, Florida; Cindy O'Dell of Irvine, California; and Peggy Young of Kalispell, Montana; sons-in-law Steve O'Dell and Jeff Young; his brother Marvin Mayer of Menominee, Michigan; four grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. His legacy lives on in their love of a good game as well.
Memorial services are pending. Donations in his memory may be made to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, Parkview Foundation or Freeport Health Network Hospice.
Cremation rites have been accorded and services will take place at a later date. You can leave your messages of condolences at www.walkermortuary.com.