- Date Of Birth: June 7, 1915
- Date Of Death: December 9, 2017
- State: Virginia
Cassidy, JOHN RICHARD LANCE (June 8, 1915 to December 9, 2017) John “Jack” R. L. Cassidy returned to his Lord and Savior on December 9, 2017, reuniting with his wife of 62 years and the love of his life, Josephine Rose Anne Cassidy. Jack was born June 8, 1915 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, delivered on a kitchen table by a mid-wife. He was the only child of Anne Bayus and John Cassidy. In the first years of his life he was raised in a Catholic convent by his Aunt, Mother Superior Sister Mary Salome. He learned to speak Slovak with his grandparents before learning English. In his high school years he lived with his mother and became a lifeguard during the summers for the New York Metropolitan Athletic Association to earn money for college and starting on his path to become an athlete for life. During high school he played football, baseball and basketball and was involved in swimming and boxing. His passion was baseball. In 1936 he attended the University of Alabama majoring in Physical Education and Mathematics and becoming very involved in the evolution of the schools sports programs. He was a key participant in beginning the swimming program at the university, he was on the boxing team with teammate and future Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, and was assigned as a personal trainer to Alabama assistant football coach, Bear Bryant. As a senior on the University of Alabama baseball team he batted .317 and was signed by the Chicago White Sox baseball organization upon graduation. In 1940, Jack graduated from Alabama, met his future wife Josephine Rose Anne McHale at the World’s Fair in New York, and was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. Josephine and Jack married in New York City on January 17, 1943. Beginning his naval service at Officer Candidate School at Northwestern University and as a midshipmen on USS New York (BB 34) just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Jack saw action on cruisers and destroyers in both the Pacific and European theaters. His at sea service during the war included participation in the invasion of Africa in Operation Torch, and in the Marianas and Philippines Campaigns in the Pacific, culminating with his being in combat in the invasion of Okinawa. At Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, Lieutenant Jack Cassidy, Aide to Rear Admiral McCormick, joined his admiral onboard USS Missouri for the Japanese surrender. Jack continued his naval service after the war. He was a graduate of the Naval War College, served as the senior U.S. naval officer at Nova Scotia, Canada, was a Navy ROTC instructor at Harvard University and culminated his sea-going career as Commanding Officer of USS Coolbaugh, a destroyer escort out of Norfolk, Virginia. During his twenty-one year naval career his decorations and campaign ribbons included; Navy Commendation Medal – Okinawa, European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Korean Service Medal. Following his retirement from the Navy as a Commander in 1961, Jack became a high school administrator and coach in both Virginia and Maryland. During a six year break between high school positions, he became the head of training at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Greenbelt, Maryland with extensive involvement in the Apollo program, and in particular, the first moon landing with Apollo 11. Outside his military and work, Jack earned Masters Degrees in Business Administration from the University of Virginia and George Washington University. He served as the senior baseball umpire for Fairfax County for seventeen years. He was an usher at All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas for twenty years and was an active member of the church starting in 1971. He was also active in the Park West Lions Club in Manassas. Jack was a member of the gym at Freedom GMU Center through his 99th birthday, working out and swimming five days a week. His lifelong devotion to athletics is epitomized by his incredible successes while participating in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics through the age of 98 where he was awarded hundreds of medals in track and field events and swimming. He still holds age group records in the Men’s Shot Put and Discus (age groups 80-84, 85-89, 95-99), the Javelin throw (95-99), the 50-yard backstroke (95-99) and the 50-yard freestyle swim (85-99, 90#43;). Jack is survived by his sons John Michael (wife Judy), Jeffrey James, James Kevin (wife Adele), Jerald Randolph (wife Denise) and his daughter Jo-Anne Christine. Additionally his three grandchildren John Patrick Cassidy, Cassidy Danielle Burton, and McKenzie Cassidy A mentor, father, grandfather… a loving faithful husband… a friend to many.
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