Jane K Cassidy

Jane Kiely Cassidy, 96, passed away on March 29, 2026. She was born on September 17, 1929, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Grace C. Gallaher and Edward F. Kiely. She attended Xavier High and graduated from Maplewood High in St. Louis in 1947, where she played tennis and was elected football queen in her senior year.

She attended St. Louis University on an academic scholarship, graduating in 1951 with a degree in history and a minor in philosophy. While at St. Louis U., Jane was the president of her sorority, Kappa Beta Gamma.

After teaching elementary school for two years, Jane entered a special officer’s candidate program for occupational therapy, among the first integrated units in the U.S. Army. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant and licensed OT, serving at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, caring for burn-injured and other veterans during the Korean War. While in the military, she learned to fly, and she recalled flying an aircraft under the Golden Gate Bridge as “everybody did it,” an excuse her children noted she had zero tolerance for later in life. Jane was honorably discharged following fulfillment of her commission during the Korean War, remaining a reservist until the 1960s.

She met Leslie Denis Cassidy, a fellow St. Louisan, and they married in 1957 at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Houston with a reception at the Shamrock Hilton. She and Denis had three children: Claire, Les, and Patrick, and enjoyed thirty years of marriage until his death in 1987. They were charter members of St. Francis de Sales Parish and contributed to the first Jesuit high school in Houston in its early planning stages.

Teaching reading, phonics, and spelling to second- and third-grade students were among Jane’s passions. She taught in the St. Louis public school system before marrying, and when her children enrolled in primary school, she returned there herself. For nearly 25 years, Jane taught in the Houston-Galveston diocese, first at St. Thomas More and then at St. Francis de Sales.

In 1982, she was named a “diocesan teacher of the year” in recognition for her dedication and effective teaching methods, receiving a trip to Disneyland with other recipients of the recognition. She taught thousands of students across her career, and it was not uncommon for her kids and grandkids to be asked if they were related to Mrs. Cassidy, their former grammar school teacher. She also was interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey show and in various publications to share her views and insights from the classroom.

Throughout her life, Jane was vigorous and socially active. This included season tickets to the theatre, a well-stamped passport from traveling with her children and grandchildren, including Ireland, Italy, and England, and participation in an informal club of seasoned educators, nicknamed “the failing faculties”, where she stayed in touch with former co-workers and fellow parishioners while sampling happy hours around town. Near the end of her life, Jane moved to St. Dominic’s Village, a Catholic retirement home.

She enjoyed the field trips, daily Mass, and Rosary, as well as the staff and co-residents. Her last years were spent at the St. Gabriel and Villa South memory care facilities in Corpus Christi. The family is grateful to the many caregivers at these facilities for their long service to mom.

Jane was preceded in death by her sister, Claire Kiely Adkins of Carlinville, Illinois. She is survived by her older brother, Ray Kiely and his wife Jane in St. Louis, her sister-in-law Kay Cassidy Sansone, as well as her three children: Claire Cassidy Fletcher and her husband Caldwell; Les Cassidy and his partner Cynthia Garcia, and Patrick Cassidy and his wife Beth; her grandchildren: Grace Hicks and her husband Andrew; and John and Denis Fletcher; Mary Catherine Price and her husband Adam, Jimmy and his partner Cindy Luo, Patrick, John Paul, Daniel and Michael Cassidy and their mother Tracy Cassidy; and Tom, Kevin and Brian Cassidy; and three great grandchildren: Cassidy Hicks, Emma Cassidy, and Caroline Olivia Price, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, and thousands of former classmates, students, and colleagues.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Donations in memory of Jane Cassidy can be made St. Francis de Sales School, 8900 Roos, Houston, TX 77036 (www.sfdsschool.org/support) or an education institution of your choice.