Obituary of William J. Cassidy

William Joseph Cassidy, a native New Yorker who spent the last few years of his life residing in Vernon, CT, passed away on the evening of Sunday, August 17, 2025 at the age of 84. William, known to his family and friends as Bill, was a devoted husband, father, and PopPop.  With a jovial spirit, a huge warm heart, and charismatic charm, Bill was the anchor of the family, filling his home, and our hearts, with love and laughter.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, on August 3, 1941, Bill lived an adventurous life. A natural storyteller with the “gift of the gab” he loved to share his tales with family and friends, but saved his best stories for his three girls. Ripe with tales of 1940’s NYC, Bill would share his many escapades from what it was like being on rations during the war, how his Uncle Jim would take him to see his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers (and help him get his ball signed), swimming in the Hudson river, chasing frogs, watching the St. Patrick’s day Parade from the stock room of Saks Fifth Avenue with his father, to the sheer horror and embarrassment of walking with his grandmother as a child when she told off Joey Gallo on the streets of Brooklyn.

His father, William Patrick Cassidy, passed away when Bill was sixteen years old. It was then that he and his mother, Mary Cassidy (nee Cornely) moved to Bellerose, NY with their cousins. Having been born with retinitis pigmentosa, a severe eyesight impairment, Bill attended school in the NYC Vision Conservation program which saw him through elementary school at PS 95 and then on to William Cullen Bryant High School in Astoria, NY where he developed a love for photography and took photos for the school newspaper. After graduating high school, Bill went on to work at Saks Fifth Avenue like his father and grandfather before him. A savvy salesman with an eye for design, Bill rose up to work as a buyer for the jewelry department. Some of his favorite stories come from his time at Saks, from charming Edie Adams (and her  dog) and curating selections for Barbara Streisand, to assisting his fellow colleagues during the great NYC blackout of 1977.

It was during his time at Saks that he met his wife, Barbara, a nursing school student who was on rotation at Creedmore Hospital, while he worked there curating a library for patients.  The two would eventually get married in Bayonne, NJ and make  the papers for having every member of their wedding party get married afterwards, including the priest! The young couple settled down in Yonkers, NY and started a family of their own, welcoming their first child, Kathleen, in 1971, and their second, Maureen in 1975.  In the later seventies, they moved to Rego Park, NY where they lived with Bill’s mother and where Bill would move on from Saks to work for Kosta Boda, a Swedish Glass company.

His work for Kosta Boda would take him all over the world as he would meet with artisans to secure unique and beautiful glassworks for Kosta Boda to carry. In the fall of 1980, after welcoming his third child, Kimberley, he would lay his beloved mother Mary to rest. One year later, the family would find themselves moving to the suburbs of NYC to Lindenhurst, NY, a town his cousin Patricia Rooney helped him vet. Bill loved tending his vegetable garden and enjoying the pool in his own backyard. A dedicated father, he always devoted his one day off a week, in addition to vacation, to his family. From the arrival of his first, he always enjoyed taking his girls on adventures into NYC where they would explore the Bronx and Central Park Zoo, the aquarium, The Museum of Natural History, watch the Thanksgiving day parade, and one of their favorites, FAO Schwartz (where toy dogs may have been purchased and summarily walked down Fifth Avenue followed by Bill’s raucous laughter.)

Not wanting to relocate his family to Texas to continue working for Kosta Boda, Bill moved on to the position of VP for COPCO for a short time before settling into Vice President in charge of Sales and Personnel for JPM. This position required Bill to leave the house at 5 a.m. to take a train and several buses (as his vision kept him from driving) to the factory in New Jersey. He loved to take his girls to work with him, though his  youngest was afforded this opportunity the most. Those moments riding the train and bus (always with a stop for coffee and buttered roll first) are among her most cherished memories. He was loved and respected by everyone at JPM, but he loved to joke with the factory guys in the break room and they were always happy to sit and chat with him, as his stories were always the best. 

His three girls were the center of his life, and his home in Lindenhurst was  the center of his girls’ activities. He prided himself in having an open door policy for all of their friends. Everyone felt welcome and enjoyed his kindness, and his culinary expertise. Everyone who knew Bill knew he enjoyed a good meal – many a story he told involved exquisite detail of the exotic meals he enjoyed while traveling the world. Once upon learning his wife had never had lobster, he jumped in the car and they drove all the way to Maine on a whim to enjoy the freshest lobster. He would later take his three girls on a more local (and ill fated)  trip to Jordan’s Farm on Long Island where he would allow his children to hold the lobsters in the back seat on the ride home only to find they had named them (after the Fraggles) and thus refused to eat them. 

 As much as he enjoyed eating, and talking about a good meal, he loved creating one even more. The cook of the family, he would make stuffed cabbage, and was known for his sauce, meatballs, and baked ziti (better known to his grandchildren as PopPop Pasta) but what he was famous for were his chocolate chip cookies. They filled the bellies, hearts, and souls of all those who came to his home and were often called magical by those who tried them.

As hard as he worked, Bill was no stranger to play. In fact, his playful nature is what he is most known for! His hobbies filled his life with joy, a lifelong lover of fish, he loved taking care of his aquarium and fishing trips with his brother-in-law turned best friend, Robert McLean. His favorite everyday pastime though was watching his sports, especially his favorite teams the NY Mets (after his first baseball love the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to LA that is) and the NY Giants. His screams of joy and despair while watching the games he so loved could be heard across their home. His life-long hobby of playing practical jokes continued well into his eighties.

Of all the hats he wore in his life, his most cherished was the one that made him PopPop. He adored his grandchildren and relished every opportunity to cook with (and for) them, joke with them, and go on adventures to the zoo, the beach, aquarium, museums, and especially enjoyed the adventures that ended (or began) with ice cream.  He encouraged their mischief and was always willing to take the fall for their chaos.  He shared everything he loved in his life with them and was always their biggest fan and cheerleader, as he was for his daughters as well.  

Predeceased by his parents William P. Cassidy and Mary Cassidy (nee Cornely), Bill spent his final years living with his daughters and grandchildren in Oyster Bay, NY before retiring to Vernon, CT. He was married to his wife, Barbara Cassidy (nee Sieracki) for 62 years. He is survived by their children, Kathleen Cassidy-Brammer, Maureen Cassidy-Vera and her husband Marcelo Vera, and Kimberley Cassidy-Neff and her husband Aaron Neff; four grandchildren - Mary Elizabeth, Matthew William, and Michael Victor Vera, and Joshua Hugh Brammer.  His family meant everything to him and he has left them with a legacy of love and laughter.

Bill is also predeceased by his cousin whom he grew up with, close as siblings,  Mary Rooney (nee Cornely) and her husband Paul Rooney, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Theresa and Robert McClean, and his dear Uncle James Cornely who stepped into the role of a father when he lost his own as a teenager.  Bill is survived by his cousins Maureen Lipsky (nee Rooney), Patricia Rooney, and Julie Cornely.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, August 21st from 4-7 pm at Oyster Bay Funeral Home.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, August 22th at 10 am at the Church of St. Dominic, Oyster Bay. Burial will follow at Washington Memorial Park in Mt. Sinai.