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Dr. Jack
Cassidy passed away after a 13 year
battle with cancer. He was born in
Philadelphia on March 12, 1941. He was
the son of the late Helen Powelson
Cassidy and William J. Cassidy. After
graduating from Abington High School and
Gettysburg College, he completed his
masters and Ph.D. at Temple University.
First serving as a teacher, reading
specialist, and reading supervisor in
PA, HI, and DE, he began teaching at
Millersville University. After 20 years
there he retired and began teaching at
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
where he eventually became Associate
Dean retiring in 2011. He was granted
Emeritus status at both institutions. |
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Jack was
elected President of many professional
associations in literacy, the most
prominent being the International
Reading Association (IRA). In that role,
he got to travel and present in many
countries and states. He was also
elected president of the Association of
Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER)
and he received many awards from that
organization. Often traveling with his
wife Drew, he went to all 50 states and
50 countries in his role as president of
the two organizations. He was also a
founding father of two state IRA
associations- the Texas Association for
Literacy Education (TALE) and. DSRA (the
Diamond State Reading Association in
DE), and he served as president of both
those organizations. Several awards are
named in his honor. In 2010, he was
elected to the Reading Hall of Fame
considered the highest honor for those
in his field. He also received many
other awards including the PA Teacher
Educator of the Year and the IRA Special
Service Award. For over 20 years, he was
listed in Who's Who in America. |
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Having met
as teachers in Hawaii, Jack was married
to the love of his life Drewcilla Brown
for 53 years. For many years, they had a
vacation condo on the island of Kauai
where they met, and they would return
there as often as possible. Jack has two
wonderful sons, Jeff, married to Kari
Santino of Lancaster, and Kyle, married
to Amanda Marshall, also of Lancaster.
For the last year of his life, he lived
with Kyle and his family. He also has
three awesome grandchildren (Ellamay,
Jack and Graceyn.) Every 5 years, the
whole family returned to Hawaii where it
all began many years before. Another
significant person in Jack's life was
his younger sister Gail Tallant although
he often claimed that she was his older
sister. He said how lucky he was to have
had her in his life. With her husband
Josh Tallant, Jack and Drew took many
enjoyable cruises to various parts of
the world. |
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After he
retired for the second time, he began
playing duplicate bridge. His partners
and opponents in both San Antonio, TX
and Lancaster, PA became wonderful
friends. |
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Jack was
the author of many textbooks and
professional articles. For over 20
years, he conducted an often cited
yearly study, "What's Hot in Literacy."
He would present his findings and would
conclude his professional presentations
on the topic saying, "On my tombstone
will be written – he was hot, now he's
not." |
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