Todd Alan Casanova

Casanova, Todd A. OREGON–Todd A. Casanova, age 54, of Oregon, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, at his home surrounded by his loving family, after a long and courageous battle with ALS. He was born on Aug. 25, 1960, the son of Donald and Grace (Schulz) Casanova. Todd attended Craig High School in Janesville and the UW Madison, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and an Athletic Trainer for the Badger Football and Basketball teams. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Bacteriology. Todd was employed at Becton Dickinson for 28 years in Development, Manufacturing and Quality Assurance and recently with Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemical in Quality Assurance. He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing (having participated in 14 successive Birkebeiners) and helping others. Todd was a member of the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Oregon. He was a long time member of The Prairie Enthusiasts (TPE) Empire-Sauk Chapter and loved every aspect of prairie restoration spending countless hours removing invasive species, picking seeds, and experimenting with numerous growth and transplant methods to yield viable prairie flowers in abundance. Todd is survived by his fiancée, Candace Peterson; and her children, Grant and Aidan Wilson; sons, Ryan of Milwaukee and Marine Pvt. Casanova of Oregon; father, Donald (Pearl) of Janesville; brother, Curt (fiancée, Sarah Schuler) Casanova of Madison; and sister, Daun Casanova of Summerfield, Fla.; the mother of his children, Ryan and Jason, Kim Komplin of DeForest; along with other numerous other friends and family. He was preceded in death by his mother, Grace in 1989. A Celebration of Life will be held at ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 625 E. Netherwood St., Oregon, at 11 a.m., on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, with the Rev. Paul Markquart presiding. A luncheon will follow. Visitation will be held at the church from 9 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday. A private family burial will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to TPE Empire-Sauk, “In Memory of Todd Casanova”, P.O. Box 824, Viroqua, Wis., 54665 http://www.theprairieenthusiasts.org/donate.htm. Todd’s family wishes to thank the staff at St. Jude Hospice for their loving care and compassion. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson Oregon Funeral & Cremation Care 1150 Park Street (608)835-3515