Obituary of Stuart G. Casanova

HAMMOND-Stuart G. Casanova, 91, of Hammond, NY, went to be with his Lord and Savior on September 12, 2018. He was born in Utica, NY on May 7, 1927, the son of Mary Kerr and Walter Casanova. He graduated from the Hudson Falls High School in 1945. He joined the US Navy and served in Submarine Squadron 3 aboard the USS Sperry (AS-12) as an electronic technician mate. He graduated from Clarkson University in 1952. He was an electronic engineer at the Rome Air Development Center at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY. He supervised the research, development, test and evaluation of aircraft and satellite radar systems, and retired in 1982. A marriage to Wilma Goodrich ended in divorce. In 1981 he married Mary O'Neill Shields at Calvary Methodist Church in Rome, NY. They moved to the shore of the St. Lawrence River in Hammond, NY in 1982. Mary died in November 1999. He especially loved and enjoyed all the members of his family. Stu liked boating, swimming, history, genealogy, computers, antique radios, playing trumpet, gardening, square dancing and downhill skiing. He had a talent of making or fixing almost anything. He wrote the book "History of the Edwards Zinc Mines", and co-authored with LaVerne Freeman the book, "Edwards Village Houses and People -1812 to the Present". He was past president of the Mill Site Manor senior citizens housing, and was vice president of the Hammond Museum. In 1959 he purchased "The Bomb," a WWII APS-4 Aircraft Radar, in the shape of a 500 bomb that was carried in a standard bomb rack below the wing of the Navy dive bomber called the "Helldiver", otherwise known as the Curtis SB2C. In 2017 he donated "The Bomb," still in mint condition, to the Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum where it will be displayed in the Udvar-Hazy Museum with the Helldiver. Stuart is survived by his friend LaVerne Freeman, four children, three step-children: son Stephen Casanova of Rome, NY; daughter Mary and Dale Ouderkirk of Rome, NY; daughter Susan Casanova of Newport, NY; daughter Elaine and Gerry Przybylski of Oneida, NY; step daughter Margaret and Michael Key of Burlington, Ontario; step son Lt Col James Shields, of Brockville, Ontario; step daughter Martha and John Ackerman of Brockville, Ontario; seven grandchildren: Julie, Kari, Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, Robin, and Ted; eight great-grandchildren: Luke, Julia, Lucy, Hannah, Tessa, Lily, Will, and Rosie. A grave side service will held be at the Riverside Cemetery in Edwards, NY at the convenience of the family. His internment will make five generation of the Kerr family buried in the Riverside Cemetery. Contributions, in his memory, may be made to the Hammond Museum, 1A North Main Street, Hammond, NY 13646 or the Edwards History and Genealogy Center, 222 Main Street, Edwards, NY 13635. Arrangements are with French Funeral Home, Edwards. Condolences may be shared online at www.frenchfuneralhomes.com.