Dr. William Abraham Cassada Jr.

Dr. William Abraham Cassada, Jr., age 86, known as “Bill” by his friends and colleagues, died peacefully on Saturday, August 30, 2014. Bill was born on March 19, 1928 in Farmville, Virginia, son of William Abraham Cassada, Sr. and Thelma Parker Cassada, and brother of the late Katherine Anne Cassada Robertson. He attended public schools in Waverly, Virginia and as an early teenager worked stocking shelves for W. S. Peebles & Co. He graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in 1946. Bill graduated from University of Richmond in 1950, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received the first Garnett Ryland Award for outstanding achievement in Chemistry. In 1955, he graduated from Medical College of Virginia and subsequently served a one-year internship at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, where he married Eleanor “Ellie” Frances Rollo, with whom he shared almost 59 wonderful years. Upon completing his internship in 1956, Bill began his career in a busy family practice in Brookneal, Virginia, during which he was Medical Examiner for Campbell County, Norfolk & Western surgeon, and rendered his services to the well baby clinic in Rustburg, Virginia. He was on the staff at Halifax County Hospital where he had privileges in obstetrics and served in the emergency room. During eight years of family practice, Bill delivered countless babies and made daily house calls. He was devoted to his patients, many of whom remained lifelong friends. In 1964, he left Brookneal to return to Medical College of Virginia to specialize in Radiology. In 1968, Bill completed a four-year Radiology residency and returned to Roanoke to practice at Lewis Gale Hospital. During his tenure at Lewis-Gale, he served a term as Chairman of the Radiology Department, developed the Vascular and Interventional Radiology Department and practiced for 22 years as a distinguished diagnostic radiologist. In 1990, upon ending his career at Lewis Gale, Dr. Cassada moved to Chesterfield, Virginia where he served as a radiologist at John Randolph Hospital, Central State Hospital and Children’s Hospital. In 1997, after 41 years of service, Bill retired from the medical profession. Bill was a member of the American Medical Association; Medical Society of Virginia; American College of Radiology; Virginia Chapter of the A.C.R; Radiologic Society of North America; Roanoke Academy of Medicine; and Richmond Radiologic Society. Bill served terms on the Board of Stewards and as President of the United Methodist Men at Windsor Hills United Methodist Church. For many years he served as Scout Master for Troop 236 in Roanoke. Bill was an avid camper and outdoorsman early in his life, and enjoyed a lifelong interest in cars, cooking, playing cards and traveling. Bill was intensely competitive and witty but also gracious in demeanor. His surviving family and friends will remember him as a loving father and grandfather who engaged himself in life, his family, his career, and community. Bill is preceded in death by his parents and sister. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor of Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also survived by his daughter, Catherine Cassada Kern of Charlottesville, Virginia, three sons, William Abraham Cassada, III, of Madison, Virginia; Garland Stuart Cassada of Charlotte, North Carolina; and David Christopher Cassada of Richlands, Virginia; and ten grandchildren: David William Cassada, Daryn Lynn Cassada, and Taylor Leigh Cassada of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Jocelyn Palmer Cassada and Garland Stuart Cassada, Jr. of Charlotte, North Carolina; William Allen Kern and Sarah Eleanor Kern of Charlottesville, Virginia; and Mary Bradley Cassada, Ann Parker Cassada, and Addison Laurens Cassada of Lynchburg, Virginia. A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday, September 3 in the Teague Funeral Home Chapel. A private family interment will be held at Westhampton Memorial Park in Richmond, Virginia. The family will receive friends 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 2 at the Teague Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Dr. Cassada’s name to the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA.