The Obituaries of January*

Mrs. Margaret Jean Cassidy…… September 2, 1933 — January 29, 2020

Eileen Cassidy-Ryan confirmed the death of her beloved aunt, Margaret Jean Cassidy who passed quietly in her sleep this morning in her home in Amherst.

Margaret Jean Walsh was born in 1933 in Ulster County, Ireland to Mr. Neil Walsh and Mrs. Eileen Walsh nee Kelly. Mr. Walsh was a respected businessman who never expected to leave his homeland but found himself swept up in the post-war rush for work in America. He settled his little family of Eileen and their daughters, Milly and Margaret, in the Amherst area back when the surrounding countryside was farms and fields. The girls grew up helping on the small family vegetable farm and going to school in town, although in later years, Mrs. Cassidy spoke of terrible bullying the two endured in school because of their heavy Irish accents.

Mrs. Cassidy was 13 when the family came to the U.S. and her sister was 15. Within their first three years here their mother gave birth to three sons, Liam, Kenny, and Garth. Mrs. Walsh died in childbirth at the age of 46 with the birth of the youngest, Garth (father of Eileen Cassidy-Ryan). Mr. Walsh remarried to the choir director at St. Ann’s, Ms. Sally Green, and contrary to the popular trope of the alienating step-parent, Sally was close to all the Walsh children.

It was Sally Walsh who introduced Margaret to Stefan Cassidy at a church social in 1955. Mr. Cassidy was home on furlough from a tour of duty in Korea and the two made a promise to wed when he completed his tour in 1956.

The family settled in the Seattle area after Mr. Cassidy’s return from Korea and soon there were three little Cassidys. Mr. Cassidy had studied electronics in the Army and soon found work in Seattle’s early technology industry. He patented several innovations in early computers which ensured the family’s financial security. Mrs. Cassidy worked part-time at the library near their home and raised their three children, Irene, John, and Bill.

A terrible car accident in 1978 claimed the lives of Stefan, Irene, and John. Mrs. Cassidy and Bill returned to Amherst shortly after the accident and Bill earned his undergraduate degree in English literature here. Mrs. Cassidy, having inherited valuable stock options on the death of her husband, volunteered at the hospital and St. Ann’s, often accompanied by Sally Walsh who lived to be 102 years old.

Bill, after struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism for many years passed away last year in New York City, estranged from his family. Mrs. Cassidy never spoke of her anguish over the terrible tragedies that marked her life, instead looking for ways to be of help to others. She was well-loved by so many people in the community who knew her for her ready laugh and quick offer of help in any situation that her death leaves a terrible sense of loss.

The family welcomes everyone to come celebrate Mrs. Cassidy’s long life with visiting hours at Murphy’s Funeral Home this Saturday, February 1 and funeral services at St. Ann’s on Monday, February 3.

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*This is a fictional obituary using a stock photo from a Medium-approved source.