Sister Lynn Casey SCL

19 August 1936 – 31 January 2022

Sister Lynn Casey loved hiking and the outdoors. Besides local trails, she explored the Austrian Alps and Colorado’s Mount Sneffels. Nature put her at ease (she called it an “antidote to stress”), heightened her creativity and
awareness of beauty, and renewed her spirit. She saw many parallels between hiking and leadership: planning ahead, staying focused, moving forward, being resilient and adaptable, finding new territory, and looking out for those with you. Such lessons were not lost on Sister Lynn and helped inspire her work as a teacher, principal, and long-time hospital administrator, as did her Catholic faith.

Donna Lynn Casey was born on Aug. 19, 1936, in Havre, Mont., the second of eleven children of Francis and Loretta (Daum) Casey. After her birth, the family relocated across the state to East Helena, a smelter town, where her dad and other locals processed lead and zinc. Her large family helped her learn to work with others, and small town life stimulated an interest in community. She graduated from St. Ann’s Grade School in East Helena and Cathedral High School in nearby Helena. SCLs taught at both schools.

She entered the SCL Community on Aug. 19, 1956, and professed vows as Sister Lynn Casey on Aug. 22, 1958. She earned a B.S. degree in education and an M.S. degree in education administration from Saint Mary College, Leavenworth, Kan.

Sister Lynn taught in primary schools for 12 years in Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, and Kansas, before serving as principal for 9 years at Most Pure Heart of Mary School in Topeka, Kan. She collabo- rated with the nearby Menninger Clinic and was an advocate of children with mental health challenges. After resigning, the school organized a “Celebrate Sister Lynn Day” with gifts and a tree planted in her honor.

In 1979, she served for 3 years as administrator at Kennedy Child Study Center at St. John’s Hos- pital and Health Care Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Soon after, she completed a second master’s degree in hospital and health services administration in 1984 from Yale University. Her studies prepared her for the significant changes hospitals and insurance companies would soon make in how patients were charged for services. This knowledge put her at the forefront of the healthcare field.

For the next 20 years, she held executive-level roles in hospitals or health care systems in Montana, California, Colorado, Washington, and Ohio. She known as a thoughtful and strategic leader who could make tough decisions. At St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colo., she transitioned a community hospital into a regional medical center. The local newspaper said the improvements made the community “a better place to live.” As senior vice president of mission services for Mercy Health Partners of Western Ohio, she facilitated the succesful merger of a community hospital and a Catholic hospital into a single, mission-focused, entity. Mentoring and developing others was also an important part of her legacy.

In 2005, she accepted the role of chancellor at the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings in Eastern Mon- tana, where she worked for 3 years as a close advisor to the bishop on all administrative affairs.
In retirement, Sister Lynn remained busy and engaged with the SCL Health Board of Directors and served for 2 years as board chair. She also did watercolor painting, spent time with family, and served as a spirital director mentoring women. In 2020, Sister Lynn received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Catholic Health Association. One of her endorsers, Bishop George L. Thomas, said, “Her life has been marked by altruism, professionalism, dynamism, and compassion for the poor in the expansive worlds of education, public health, and hospital administration.” The award was a highlight of her life.

Preceding Sister Lynn in death were her parents and her oldest sister, Patricia C. Child. Survivors include 4 brothers, Dennis L. Casey, James P. Casey, Michael J. Casey, and Thomas Casey; and 5 sisters, including Jerry Ann Maddio, Sister Jean Casey, SCL, Colleen M. Stroup, Mary L. Chambers, and Kathleen A. Zoanni; as well as numerous nephews, nieces, and grandnephews and grandnieces, and the SCL Community.