Honoring the life Casi lived as we stand in grief by Denise

Catherine (Casi) Sue Pacilio Clark

It is with deepest sorrow for Denise, our families, friends, community, and the world that I announce the passing of our dearest friend and most helpful soul, Catherine (Casi) Sue Pacilio Clark. It is very difficult to remember Casi in words, because her love language was ACTION. If she loved you, you felt it directly, and knew she would do anything for you. It is also difficult to appreciate Casi enough, because she did so much for so many. When Casi left a job, she often had to be replaced with at least 3 people. We who are left behind feel similarly now...this is an enormous loss of an irreplaceable force in our lives, and we are feeling it deeply, broadly, truly. Casi made the world a better place every day of her life, leaving kindness, beauty, justice, cute buildings, and quality sound in her wake. Casi leaves behind her wife Denise, brother Chip, closest friends Jana and Audrey Crenshaw, her stepdaughter Nia, and so many other lives she touched along the way.

Casi meant the world to many. She was a born leader and pioneer of sorts from an early age. Casi found a place she truly belonged when she found theater at age 8. If you need to understand her character and personal mission quickly, it might be illustrated in the fact that she was hired to stage manage adults at age 11. This began her 40+ years in theater, which included her education at School of the Arts in Atlanta, and sound/video/production design positions with Antioch College, City Theater, Squonk Opera, Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Artist Repertory, Hand 2 Mouth, SITI Company/Darren West, Portland Playhouse, Profile Theater, and more recently at the Coro in Ulverston and Theater by the Lake in Keswick, UK. Casi has been a part of thousands of theater and audio projects, and was also proud of her early years in film, producing, directing, and shooting Creation of Destiny, Out of Our Time and A Powerful Thang. Her films with their women-centric, femme-positive, and often lesbian characters and themes landed her on many discussion panels through the 80s and 90s, a time when she jokingly referred to herself as a “professional lesbian”. Casi was always proud to be a part of an evolving LGBTQIA+ community, and was married to Denise Clark in 2021 after after a sweet few years together. They moved to the Lake District in the UK in 2022, where Casi found a new theater community at the Coro in Ulverston and Theater by the Lake in Keswick.

Casi loved animals and will certainly be met in her afterlife by Flower, Delilah, Honey, and the many other wild and domestic friends she helped along the way.

Casi struggled recently with heart issues and frustration with her physical state. We are devastated by her loss in this plane, and elated for her soul to fly free. We see her in each other, in the clouds, feel her when we walk outside in nature, hear her in birdsong, and know she is supporting us still. Financial help is very much needed for Casi’s cremation, celebration of life, and supporting Denise as she grieves, heals and gets back on her feet. Please give if you can-all donations are appreciated.

-Jana Crenshaw