Anthony Joseph Casper

Anthony (Link) Joseph Casper Sr., b- Tuesday, March 9, 1926, d- Thursday, October 13, 2011. Link served with honor and pride in the US Navy from April 19,1944 to June 15, 1946.
It is with great loss and sadness that we announce the death of Anthony (Link) Joseph Casper Sr., born in Biloxi, MS, died at Gulfport Memorial Hospital Hospice. His passing has brought us tears and sorrow.
Link is the beloved husband of Kathleen K. Hurlbut-Casper for 62 years. They have five children; Cynthia Ann Casper of Colorado, she was his little ""Princess""; his three sons, Anthony Joseph Casper Jr. (Gail); Steven Paul Casper (Karin); and Benjamin Joseph Casper (Theresa); he loved with unlimited love and pride. The youngest daughter, Karen Leah Casper-Slamans, died December 25, 2006. She was, and will always be, her daddy's ""Little Girl"" and her ""Daddy's Baby"". He missed her deeply every day since she's been gone.
And now, they are together in heaven. We love, honor and miss them both more than words can say. He deeply loved his grandson, Benjamin Joseph Casper 3rd and they both enjoyed every moment they spent together. They often made each other laugh and the laughter and love between them and Benny's respect for his grandfather will continue through eternity.
Our daughter Cynthia said she always felt I have been the ""rock"" in our family, their daddy has been our ""Gibraltar"", and only together could we be the ""Rock of Gibraltar""; One strong, happy family who together made our children feel safe, loved, and happy. Link always made me, our children and all our grandchildren feel everything in life would be ok because he was 'there' for, and with, each of us. Link is deeply loved, honored and respected by all, including his many grandchildren, great grandchildren, his very special godchildren and his two sister's, Beatrice Bounds and Eleanor Thibodeaux,
We will always remember his funny sense of humor, his teasingly cute grin, twinkling blue eyes, and wonderful, quite, strong love for his family. He loved life and all of us.
Link leave's a legacy of a hard working man of loyalty, and truthfulness. He was a highly respected man of integrity.
He was my husband, my best friend, and my confidant. We always put each other and our family first. We shared laughter, tears, secrets, teasing, frustration's, happiness, pride and endless love with our family. We all love and miss you so much baby.
Link was one of the last of the original old time fishermen who paved the way for those who came later. Before Radar, when the fog was so thick you could not see six inches in front of you, his dad, Benjamin J. Casper, and other boat captains would get together and ask him to lead their fleet out of Back Bay in Biloxi through the thickest fog. He did it by sound. He had excellent hearing and steered by the sound's coming from buoy's. Link also discovered a new shortcut passageway to go from Biloxi to their shrimping waters. This pass saved everyone valuable hours of travel time, avoiding the roughest seas, and easing the fishermens longing to more quickly ""get there"" or ""get home"", That route has been used ever since he discovered it. I hope someday it will be named Casper's Pass in his honor. His three son's were also at one time or another shrimpers. They learned from him and he learned from one of the best of the best. His father, Benjamin J. Casper who was one of the first shrimpers in Biloxi. He came with his parents from Baltimore, MD in the earliest days of the shrimping industry on the coast. In about 1912, Mr. Ben and his father Anthoni Casper/Kasper and his uncles and other male relatives (all from the old country) had been working on shrimp-boats out of Biloxi, from the beginning of the seafood industry on the coast. The females worked in the factories. Mr. Ben's parents went back to Baltimore when he was 15. He stayed behind in Biloxi and from then on he was on his own. By the age of 16, Mr. Ben became captain of a factory boat and later bought his own boat. His wife, Annie Kriss, her mother, father, Joe Kriss, (well known as Big Six), her sisters and brothers all worked in factories or on schooners. A new era was beginning as schooners soon became transformed with engines in them instead of sails. Theirs were the magical stories of the beginning of what was to become The Seafood Capital of the World and of life so long ago.
Our thanks go to Dr. Ram, Dr. Pakron, all the doctors who cared for him, the wonderful nurses and staff at Memorial Hospital who gave him care, and compassion while he was a patient of theirs. And we thank God for everyone at the hospice wing. Our son's, daughter, grandchildren, and myself will always think of all who eased his pain and allowed him to leave this world with a sweeter calmness and dignity. A huge thank you to Father John and all the many others at Memorial who did all they could for him and for our family while he was there.
Our thanks and gratitude go to Father Murphy of St Joseph's Church on Depew Rd. Gulfport, and Deacon Henderson of St James Church, on Cowan Rd. Gulfport.
A private viewing will be officiated over with special prayers said by Deacon Dick Henderson. Burial will be at Southern Memorial Cemetery, Biloxi, MS on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. with Father Murphy officiating at graveside services.
Special thanks to Jeff Riemann and Riemann Family Funeral Home for their kindness, help, and professionalism in handling every detail needed.
Riemann Family Funeral Home, 11280 Three Rivers Road in Gulfport, assisted the family with arrangements.
For more information, please call (228)539-9800.