Casey (Mary Jay) Lenhardt

Casey (Mary Jay) Lenhardt, 73, passed away with her sister at her side in the early minutes of December 28

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after a seven-year battle with lung cancer.

Casey was born in Potsdam, NY to Jeremiah Jay Casey and Geraldine (Ranger) Casey, the third of four siblings. She was one of those rare people who knew what she wanted to do from an early age; even as a young child, she knew she wanted to be a nurse.

After college, she moved to Albany and lived with her Aunt Mary and cousin Stan Harrison while she worked in the delivery room and neonatal ICU at Albany Medical Center.

Through Stan, and regular trips to The Fountain, she met Peter Romano. He has been her friend, confidant and the man who continued to style her hair for 50 years, right up until the end.

She also developed lasting friendships with her roommates from this time: Denice Frechette and Mary Beth (Kowalski) Bonafide.

When she left hospital work, she went to work in the office of a group of OB/GYN doctors.  Two women in the business office there, Mimi Baker and Kathy Daniels, introduced her to her husband of more than four decades, Earl Lenhardt.

Casey and Earl built a wonderful life together in the Capital Region. Their family expanded when Casey became pregnant with their son Adam, who grew up never doubting for a second how loved he has been.

Through her pregnancy, she met Jean de Porte, who was pregnant with her daughter. Their friendship has lasted for all of the decades since, and has extended to their children. Maia and Adam remain friends after all these years just as Jean and Casey have

Casey was a warm and affectionate wife and mother, who approached the world with optimism. She rarely got all of the facts of her stories straight, but the story she told would be a good one. She did random acts of kindness, usually with baked goods.

She also had a lifelong fascination with the written language. She was a voracious reader, usually devouring four or more books a week, and also enjoyed the challenge of word games like Scrabble and Lexulous as well as the crossword puzzles and jumbles in the Sunday newspaper.

She is survived by her husband Earl of Slingerlands; her son Adam of Albany; her sister Sarah (Tony) Fiacco of Potsdam, NY; her nephews, Mark (Tracy) Bradish and Sean Casey; and her niece, Bridget (Jim) Bradish.

She is predeceased by her parents, her sister, Kathleen (Casey) Bradish, her brother, Michael J. Casey, and her nephew Michael S. Casey.

Friends are invited to gather to visit with the family at the Applebee Funeral Home, 403 Kenwood Ave, Delmar, NY on Tuesday, January 2 from 4 to 7 pm. A brief service celebrating Casey’s life will be held at the Applebee Funeral Home on Wednesday, January 3 at 11 am, with a reception following immediately afterward at Slingerlands Fire District Station No. 1, 1520 New Scotland Rd, Slingerlands.

Thank you to Dr. Garbo and the staff at NYOH for their excellent medical care throughout Casey’s cancer treatment and to Hospice for enabling her to spend her final weeks at home.