With hope in the Resurrection, we commend to the Lord
THE REVEREND ROBERT J. CASSIDY
Father Robert J. Cassidy, at the age of 72 and a priest for 45 years, died on Monday, August 22, 2016 in Austin, Texas.
Robert James Cassidy was born on April 3, 1944 in Bainbridge, Maryland, to James and Helen (Orr) Cassidy. His first two years of high school were at St. Bernard’s High School in New London, Connecticut and Port Jefferson High School in Port Jefferson, New York. His last two years of high school and first two years of college he studied at Montfort Preparatory Seminary in Bay Shore, New York. He spent a year novitiate with the Montfort Fathers in Hartford City, Indiana before he began third and fourth years of college at St. Louis University. He then attended St. Louis University School of Divinity in St. Louis, Missouri and was ordained a priest on May 11, 1971 at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut by the Most Rev. Peter Sarpong, Bishop of Kumasi in Ghana.
He was accepted into the Clinical Pastoral Education program at the hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, and upon completion of that program in 1998, was hired as a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Marshfield. He was incardinated into the Diocese of La Crosse on December 19, 2012. He continued to serve as a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Marshfield until he was granted the status of senior priest on October 1, 2013. He has been residing in Leander, Texas since 2013.
Father Cassidy is survived by three sisters, Frances, Patricia and Margaret (Sal); nephews Robert (Gina), Larry (Cristina) and their three children Sal, Matthew and Amanda.
He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Helen.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Thomas More Church in Austin, Texas on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 12:00 noon. The Reverend Monsignor David C. Kunz will be the main celebrant and homilist.
The Diocese of La Crosse and the family are being assisted by the Cook Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home in Austin, Texas.