John William Cassell

It is with great sorrow that the family of John William Cassell, Jr., announces his death. He passed away peacefully in his sleep of natural causes at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, March 9, 2019, at the age of 69. John was born in Milford, Delaware on November 4th, 1949. As the child of a military family in the U.S. Army, he traveled and lived in many different states in the US and countries abroad, including Japan and Germany. In 1968, he graduated from Bowie High School in Maryland, where he played golf and served as photographer for the school yearbook. He graduated from Washington and Lee University with a degree in Political Science in 1972. He then fulfilled his two years of ROTC duty as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U. S. Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Fort Ord, California. At the age of 33, John married his college sweetheart, Martha, of Lynchburg, VA. He was her first college blind date, in the fall of 1971, his Senior year. Eleven years later they were married at Christ Episcopal Church in Millwood, VA. The couple lived in Alexandria, VA for twenty years and moved to Charlottesville in August of 1996 with their two children, and expecting their third. John was a self-made entrepreneur who built a custom picture-framing business from the ground up. His first store, Custom Frame and Photo, was located in Georgetown, one block from the Key Bridge. He designed and framed extensively under the direction of Richard McCooey for the Tombs and all of the Clydes Restaurants in the Washington, DC area. Eventually, he set up a framing location in Richmond, The Collector, and one in Charlottesville, Great Graphics. John was a generous and knowledgeable man who enjoyed collecting antique prints and vintage posters. He kept himself abreast of politics and as an animated Progressive, he had a passion for social and environmental causes. John also loved to play handball, but was too busy with his work by midlife to keep up that interest. Somewhat hidden from most who knew him was John’s longstanding desire for a sailboat, in which he could travel and explore the world on a shoestring in the good company of his family, close friends and Kegerator. To that end he actually purchased a 36.7 foot Cutter two years ago, named the “Welcoming Wind,” which is docked in Hampton, VA, still awaiting the virgin voyage of its new owner. Above all, John will be remembered for his disarming gallows humor and his compassionate generosity. John is survived by his wife of 37 years, Martha Marshall Cassell; his son, William Marshall Cassell; and daughters, Frances Averett and Elizabeth McKelvey Cassell; his step-mother, Mrs. Marian Cassell of Virginia Beach; sister-in-law, Beth Cassell of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; niece Catherine Jane Cassell Jones and her husband, Samuel Frederic Jones; and great nephew, Samuel Frederic Jones II. John was preceded in death by his brother Charles Lee Cassell, his father, Colonel John William Cassell, U.S. Army, Ret., and his mother, Elizabeth Jane Gordy Cassell. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at 11:30am, at All Saints Anglican Church in Charlottesville. The family will receive friends on Friday, March 15, 2019, from 6-8pm at Teague Funeral Home in Charlottesville.