Melvin Casady, 82
MELVIN CASADY – age 82 of Lafayette, passed away early on Sunday morning August 1, 2010 at the Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, TN. A Celebration of Life was conducted on Wednesday, August 4th, at 10 a.m. from the Chapel of Alexander Funeral Home with Jimmy McDowell officiating. Brian Rhodes, DeWayne Cothron, Henry Shoultz, Larry Tucker, Dillian Dyer, and James Ralph Howser served as pallbearers. Interment followed in the Haysville Cemetery.
He was born July 3, 1928 in Macon County, Tennessee to Edgar Lee and Anna Tucker Casady. He grew up enjoying life in the country with his older brother E.L. Jr. and sister, Bernice. The family later moved to town and he found life was different. His brother Jackie Rhea and sister Jo Ella were born here.
School was never Melvin’s favorite subject, but he managed to find more interesting jobs from selling popcorn and running a movie projector at the local theater to climbing poles for the construction of new telephone lines.
In 1949, he left Macon County for life in the United States Air Force. Working on airplane engines helped him find his niche.
His last tour of duty was Albrook Air Force Base in the Republic of Panama. He received an honorable discharge in 1952 after having served four years. He tried selling shoes at his father’s shoe store. This was not a rewarding job for him. He realized the importance of an education, and attended MTSU for two years. He began to work for the US Postal Service. His job of working in the post office gave him the incentive to become a rural letter carrier. He was given the job on Rural Route One. He enjoyed serving his patrons and the many unique occurrences he encountered. Later he would recall these incidents and would relive them in the yarns he would spin. After thirty years of believing “The mail must go through” he decided to retire.
Gardening and traveling became his hobbies. He had a goal of visiting all the capital cities in the United States; he did this with exception of Alaska.
His gardening and traveling ended August 1St. He followed the other family members who had gone on, his parents, Ed and Anna, E.L. Jr., Bernice and Jackie Rhea.
Continuing to live is his wife of forty-four years, Marion Casady, sister, Jo Ella and husband Wendell Moore, cousins, nieces, and nephews, whom he loved and cherished.
