After graduating from Davenport High School, Don enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17. He served with the 86th Infantry Division (Company E) in both the European and Pacific Theatres before his discharge as a T/Sergeant in 1946. He proudly attended Company E reunions on a regular basis. Upon his return to the States, he attended the State University of Iowa, graduating in February 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in commerce.
While attending college, he met and married Betty Webster, a recent graduate of the University of Oklahoma. Don and Betty initially lived in Dallas, Texas, where Don worked as a sales manager for Wilson Sporting Goods during the day while studying for his CPA exam at night. Their son Donald Roger and daughter Leslie were born while they lived in Dallas. In 1955, Don moved his family to Midland, Texas, where daughter Christi was born in 1959.
In Midland, Don practiced as a CPA with a special interest in representing businesses and individuals in the oil and gas industry. Then, in 1969, Don moved his family to Houston, where he worked in management for several companies, including Main Lafrentz and Company, Browning Ferris Industries, the Houstonian, and Quintana Petroleum.
Outside of work he pursued a wide range of activities. An accomplished sportsman, he excelled at tennis, ran a number of marathons and was an avid hunter, sharing countless hunting trips with his son Don, whom he also introduced to competitive target shooting. Spanish, both speaking and teaching it, was a skill that he continued to hone until very late in life. Music was a passion instilled in him by his parents, both of them accomplished musicians. He sang in barbershop quartets, played string bass with the Midland/Odessa Symphony Orchestra and studied violin. His love of music is one of the great legacies that Don passed on to all of his children—pianist Don, soprano Leslie and violinist Christi. Upon retirement, Don and Betty traveled extensively, while also taking the time to tutor elementary school children from the local school district .
Don’s beloved wife Betty, died on their 62nd wedding anniversary, July 2 ,2011. In dealing with that loss, Don immersed himself in various activities, including participating in a musical trio called “Strings and Things’ with Jim Thompson on guitar and, on piano, Sally Holland, a long-time friend of Don and Betty. Sally and Don fell in love and married on December 7, 2013 at First Methodist Church in Houston. They enjoyed their life together in Houston and Canyon Lake, Texas, until Don’s declining health forced his move to assisted living in 2019.
Don is survived by his second wife, Sally Holland Cassling, sister Deborah Trissel, brother David Cassling, children Donald R. (Sally) Cassling, Leslie (Steve) Lacy and Christi (Payson) Todd, grandchildren Tom, Gwendolyn, Katie, Laurie, and Nathaniel, and great granddaughter Sophie and step-great-grandson Dean, as well as by his step children Nannette (Rod) Levett-Prinsep and Rebecca Holland.
Services will be held at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home located at 13001 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX on Friday July 28, 2023 at 10 a.m. immediately followed by interment at Memorial Oaks Cemetery.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.memorialoaksfunerals.com for the Cassling family.
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