Howard Casey

of Arlington Heights, IL, formerly of Chicago, IL

Howard fought tirelessly and bravely the disease that also ravaged his mother, Scleroderma.

He was born in Chicago, IL, June 27, 1953, the son of Casimir F. and Dorothy J. (Fleck) Syzdak. He attended Murphy Elementary School and Lane Technical High School before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam era. His service included duty overseas. After being honorably discharged, he completed a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois (Circle Campus). He had an internship at Teletype Corp. and also worked part time at Brach's candy company and UPS while attending the University of Illinois.

He moved to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a position at Unisys (formerly Sperry and Burroughs), then to California to work for Lockheed Corp., which eventually led to some contract work for Apple Computer. While in San Jose, he attended San Jose Bible College (now William Jessup University) and earned a bachelor's degree there. Eventually, he returned to the Chicagoland area to be closer to his aging parents, working for Motorola in Arlington Heights. While with Motorola, he had the opportunity to travel to Thailand on business. Following a layoff, he started a new career at The Home Depot, where he worked for over 19 years.

Howard loved to cultivate unique trees and surrounded his home with them. He also had a garden and grew fruits and vegetables, which gave him much happiness. Fitness was important to Howard; he worked out and was an avid runner. Howard always desired a close relationship with God through Christ and pursued that throughout his life.

Howard is preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his two sisters, Nancy Jane Brett (Tom) of Roanoke, Virginia and Mary Helen Kopp (Bob) of Elburn, Illinois, and a niece Kathleen Brett.

Contributions in Howard's memory may be given to: Scleroderma Foundation of Greater Chicago, https://www.stopscleroderma.org/