Wife, Mother, Sister,
Teacher, Friend and Person of Faith -
Hope was many things to many people.
While Hope passed away in early 2021; she touched the lives of many and her influence will live on for years to come.
Faith & Family
Hope’s life was all about Faith & Family. She believed in always pressing forward despite life’s obstacles and never giving up on ourselves or our children. She taught her family to have faith by living a life of faithfulness.
Hope was born on December 11, 1942, in San Antonio, Texas. Being the eldest of 10 siblings came with many blessings and challenges. At age 15, she became a member of The Sodality of The Blessed Mary at St. Leo’s and a member of San Fernando Cathedral’s Hijas de Maria. And so, began her life of service, friendship, and spiritual growth.
At 16, Hope moved to a new school and discovered her life long passion for volleyball and soon thereafter, met the love of her life, Andres “Andy” Casias. After an eventful courtship she married her high school sweetheart on July 18, 1964. Andy and Hope would go on to build a lasting marriage of 56 years.
Hope’s most important roles in life were Wife, Mother, and Grandmother. She was proud of her family of 5 children and raised her children to adulthood in the Catholic faith. With her husband Andy by her side, they encouraged their children’s participation in catechism, youth groups, choir and retreats. She was a member of Holy Rosary Parish for 47 years. As the children left the nest, she devoted more of her time, energy, and love back into continuing her life of service. Hope helped adults receive the sacraments of Baptism up through Confirmation for over 12 years as an instructor with the RCIA program, and also served with Renew and many other church ministries.
Hope was a true “hopeful” spirit, an optimist, and a positive force who blessed all who knew her with her kindness, generosity of time, warm hugs, infectious smile, and special inclusion in her daily prayers.
That hopeful spirit followed Hope into public service as she invested time and energy into the San Antonio Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary and served on many committees including the YMCA Board of Directors. She was also extremely active in many political campaigns and assisted in the monumental task of helping our city firefighters work under safer conditions with fair pay by gaining the right to Collective Bargaining.
Along the way Hope was ever present as her children began to have families of their own. Many a grandchild spent the day with grandma in the family home on Freeman drive looking through pictures, admiring her artful ceramics and being treated to her special love and attention - Priceless.
Another of Hope’s greatest passions was travel. She and Andy traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America, Mexico, and the USA. What began as road trips to Canyon Lake and Corpus Christi, became highway treks to Niagara Falls and Disneyworld, and then became trips around the world. She was blessed to travel to Rome four times and even twice attended Mass at the Vatican with the Pope. She visited 17 churches in Venice, Italy alone and lit candles at countless other cathedrals and chapels all over the world. She also had a deep love for the Southwest, especially around the Grand Canyon area and around St. George, Utah, where she played 14 years of volleyball tournaments at the National level.
Hope had two volleyball families. Her traveling Alamo Stars tournament team, and her local Women in Volleyball league. She won tons of medals over the years, some of the medals were gold, but All of the memories with her closest and dearest teammates were golden.
Life, however, was not without its challenges. In 2016, with the strength of Hope’s faith, she took on breast cancer…and won. Hope has always been a fierce competitor…a fireball, but when losing, she was most gracious to the winning players. She continued her tournament play through knee injuries and surgeries in 2012, 2016 and 2018. Her team won the Gold Medal in 2013 right after her first total knee replacement. That determination and perseverance through adversity, was recognized by Humana Healthcare and Hope was presented the prestigious volleyball “Game Changer” award at the 2015 National Senior Games.
Faith & Family…is how Hope lived…and how she will go on inspiring others to live.