Award-winning artist and writer Sheilagh Casey died May 28, 2026, at her home in Rumson, New Jersey. She was 72.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 5, 1953, Sheilagh grew up on Shippan Point in Stamford, Connecticut, one of six children of William Pearse Casey and Margaret Shea Casey.
She was a magna cum laude graduate of SUNY Purchase, New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts and literature.
Sheilagh began her professional career in the media industry in Manhattan, where she worked as a graphic designer, artist and writer for several well-known publications. She married her husband, James Dill III, in New York City Aug. 26, 1983. The couple later settled in Rumson, where she became a respected member of the local arts community. Her paintings regularly won honors in juried exhibitions locally and in New York and Philadelphia.
An award-winning writer whose arts criticism and artist profiles highlighted the creative contributions of her contemporaries in the local arts scene, Sheilagh also received honors for her journalism, including her reporting for The Two River Times in Red Bank following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Throughout her career, she was a friend and mentor to many in the creative community who valued her commitment to artistic excellence.
Sheilagh was predeceased by her parents, William Pearse Casey and Margaret Shea Casey.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her family in Canada and in the United States: her three sisters, Kathleen Jacobson and her husband, Don Jacobson, Lynnwood, Washington; Deirdre Doyle and her husband, Mark Doyle, North Vancouver, British Columbia; and Moira Casey, Vancouver, British Columbia; her brothers, William Pearse Casey Jr. and his partner, Steven Collingwood, Vancouver, British Columbia; Daniel Casey, Calgary, Alberta; her brother-in-law, Thomas Dill and his wife, Barbara Kauffman, Waterford, Virginia; and her nieces and nephews, Allison Priebe and her fiancé, Andrew Loszchuk, Port Coquitiam, British Columbia; Shannon Casey, Calgary, Alberta; Anne Dill Gant, her husband, Brian and their sons James and Michael, Springfield, Virginia; and Connor Doyle, Port Coquitiam, British Columbia.
A memorial celebration for family and friends will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 12, at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank. Those planning to attend are asked to respond to shecaseyrsvp@outlook.com.
The article originally appeared in the June 18 – 24, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
