Robert Clair “Bob” Casad

Robert Clair “Bob” Casad passed away on April 21, 2023. A memorial service and celebration of life in his honor will take place on May 28 at 3PM at the ECM Building, 1204 Oread Ave., Lawrence KS.

The great grandson of Kansas pioneers, Bob Casad was born in Council Grove to parents Clair L. and Eula (Compton) Casad on December 8, 1929. He lost his mother at the age of two but spent his childhood cradled in the loving care of his father, siblings, and grandmother Leona Van Horn Casad. He grew up in several Kansas towns, including Melvern, Norwich, and Atchison, attending Wichita East high school and graduating from Kansas University with a Bachelors degree in 1950 and a Masters in Economics in 1952.

He served in the US Air Force and was stationed on an airbase in Northern France from 1952-1954, which piqued his interest in language and kindled his love for travel. He later attended University of Michigan law school on the GI bill and graduated in 1957.

It was at Michigan that he met the love of his life, Sarah McKeighan Casad. They married in 1955 and raised four children in a home best remembered for its warmth, spirited discussions, and unconventional humor. He joined the faculty of the University of Kansas Law School in 1959 and stayed for 38 years, devoting his professional life to scholarship and teaching. He wrote numerous books, treatises, and articles and received many awards, serving at various times as a visiting faculty member at UCLA, Illinois, Michigan, Hastings College of the Law, University of Valladolid in Spain, University of Vienna, and Emory University. His legal scholarship was devoted to helping the civil law develop in ways that would improve justice and society. His book Jurisdiction in Civil Actions is a common feature on the shelves of federal judges and has been quoted numerous times by the US Supreme Court.  He received an S.J.D. from Harvard in 1979 and served for many years as a member of the American Law Institute. In 1981, he was named the John H. and John M. Kane Professor in recognition of his scholarship in civil procedure, jurisdiction, and conflict of laws.

A lifelong member of the Lawrence community, he drafted the text for the Lawrence fair housing ordinance (the first of its kind in Kansas) and was part of the group that campaigned successfully for fair housing. He also served on the board of the Lawrence Symphony and volunteered with several other campus and community groups through his years in Lawrence.

Though he didn’t leave Kansas until he was sixteen and tasted pizza for the first time at twenty-one, he was an avid world traveler with an adventurous palate. He had a particular fondness for the cuisines of South India, Korea, and Eastern Europe. He was a private pilot and owned his own airplane for several years. He loved all kinds of puzzles, including double crostics, codewords, Jumbles, and anything else you put in front of him. He worked the New York Times crossword puzzle every morning until he couldn’t see the letters anymore, and even on the last day of his life, he solved the day’s Wordle on his cell phone from his hospital bed.

He really loved music, especially the songs he grew up with in the 1930s and 40s. A self-taught pianist, he played Tin Pan Alley songs every day for decades until his hearing loss prevented it. If you quoted a song lyric, he would sing you the rest of it, and if you started to sing it, he would join you in harmony. He sang in church choirs and barbershop quartets, but his favorite way to sing was around the dinner table with the people he loved.

He was preceded in death by his loving wife Sarah, his sister Julia Ann Dagenais, brother-in-law Ralph Dagenais, and brother Larry. He is survived by his brother Charles, by his children Ben, Joe, Robert, and Madeleine (Mickey); by his grandchildren, Xander, Mattie, Aliya, Bridget, and Aidan; by his great grandchildren James and Scarlett; by family members Susan Rieger, Jefferson Cowie, Diane Powell, Rebekah Casad, Chris Denton, and Lukas Larsson, and by many nieces, nephews, and friends. His deeply humane approach to life and the law touched many in both the legal community and the wider world in which he traveled. We who knew him will cherish our moments in his company.