The Rev. David C. Casey, a United Methodist minister who was the founding executive director of the Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equality Inc., died of colon cancer April 30 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Butchers Hill resident was 61.
"David was an organizer who wanted to create conditions for people to live to their fullest potential and in joy," said the Rev. David C. Olson, pastor of First Unitarian Church of Baltimore.
"He wanted to integrate the whole, and when I came here he wanted me to see Baltimore in a certain way," Mr. Olson said. "David wanted us to be collegial and cooperative in creating programs. He brought a sense of 'We're all in this together' when it comes to saving the city, and 'We can co-create the future.'"
"David brought a spark and hope to places," said Charles B. Duff Jr., president of Jubilee Baltimore Inc. and executive director of Midtown Development Corp. in Baltimore. "When he was president of Southeast Community Organization, he took the tired old neighborhoods of Southeast Baltimore and gave them a big jolt of energy."
The son of Jack Casey, an electrical engineer, and Rhoda Hunter, a bookkeeper, David Charles Casey was born in Norfolk, Va., and raised in Vienna, Va., and Ashton in Montgomery County, where he graduated in 1972 from Sherwood High School.
After earning a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1976, he worked for four years for the Maryland Environmental Service.
He earned a master's degree in theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington in 1980 and was ordained a United Methodist minister that year.
Mr. Casey was pastor of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church at East Monument and Bouldin streets in Highlandtown from 1980 to 1990, and from 1991 to 1994 was pastor of St. John's of Baltimore City United Methodist Church on St. Paul Street in Charles Village.
In 1990, he joined Jubilee Baltimore, a nonprofit development firm, serving as director of Jubilee Jobs, coordinator of the Southeast Baltimore Community Plan, and as a housing development project manager.
"He was 100 percent irrepressible, an idea factory, and my right-hand man for 10 years." said Mr. Duff. "I've never known anybody who was so interested in so many things, and he was committed to them. And he could keep all of these balls in the air going at once. It was an extraordinary gift."
He said Mr. Casey "moved in two worlds. He moved in the world of community development and organized religion, and moved fully in both. There aren't many people who can do that."
In 1998, Mr. Casey won a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Builder Fellowship to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He provided faith-based outreach for the Maryland HUD office until 2002, when he became the founding executive director of the Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equality, an interfaith organization with headquarters at Wayland Baptist Church on Garrison Boulevard.
The nonprofit, which is also known by the acronym BRIDGE, is a catalyst for change and social justice in Baltimore and the Washington suburban region, and is composed of geographically, racially and economically diverse congregations.
"The most important thing is that David brought authenticity to his work, and he was deeply committed to the city and creating a system of equality that was connected to his own deep faith," said Mr. Olson. "He integrated this with tremendous cohesion. He loved his family. He loved the city. He loved his work."
He was also a motivating speaker.
"He was an inspiring teacher when it came to working with younger organizers," said Mr. Olson. "He brought his enthusiasm and imparted wisdom from his experiences."
Mr. Casey was the primary researcher, with University of Baltimore professor Jessica Elfenbein, for the Baltimore Community Foundation's 2003 Evaluation of Diversity in Baltimore City.
He also was the author of "Baltimore White paper on Community-Based Economic Development," and was co-author with Robert Giloth of "Reinventing CDC: Twenty-five Years of Community Planning and Development in Baltimore," which was published in 1996.
When Mr. Casey was presented the Bryce W. Shoemaker Ecumenical Leadership Award for his work, the organization lauded BRIDGE for its "victories in inclusionary housing, education, equity financing, and access to jobs for low-income citizens."
The award also said that Mr. Casey had "developed a strong track record in promoting faith-based community projects."
Mr. Casey was acutely aware of the situation in Baltimore in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray, who died after sustaining an injury while in police custody, and the ensuing riots, said his wife of 34 years, Nancy E. Newman, a clinical social worker.
"David knew that without struggle there is no progress. He wanted to capture those impulses and realized that it was not the end of the story, that it was another opportunity to find the leaders in the wake of what happened and work with them," said Mr. Olson. "And now that he is gone, it is our time to pick up his work."
Mr. Casey was an inveterate reader and collector of guitars, which he enjoyed playing. He was an Orioles and Ravens fan.
"David loved old church sanctuaries and was also a beer connoisseur," said Mr. Olson. "He used to joke that when the day came and we were semiretired, we could open a brew pub and entertainment center in a former church; that way he could bring together all the pieces of his life."
Plans for a memorial service to be held at Wayland Baptist Church are incomplete.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Casey is survived by two sons, Jesse Newman Casey and Spencer Newman Casey, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a brother, Geoffrey Casey of Annapolis; and a sister, Jackie Hampton of Long Beach, Calif.