Patricia Gentry Cassity, age 92, of Huntsville, Alabama, died May 3, 2023, at Huntsville Hospital. Services will be held Monday, May 8, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., at First Baptist Church Chapel, Huntsville, Rev. John Holloway and Rev. Scott Gossett officiating. Music will be provided by Joseph Lee, Music Director, Huntsville Youth Orchestra and Resident Director, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra; Nikki Wilson, pianist; and Jeff Dortch, Christie Weber, Jacob Frank, and Veneta Billmayer, strings. Visitation will take place from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. in the chapel, with interment at Maple Hill Cemetery following the service.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bernard (Bo) Jed Cassity, Sr., and her son, Bernard Jed Cassity, Jr. Survivors include her daughter, Allison L. Cassity, of Hazel Green; her daughter-in-law, Amanda Hitson Cassity, of Tuscaloosa; and grandchildren, Mary Grace Cassity, of Louisville, Kentucky, and Bernard Jed Cassity III, of Tuscaloosa.
Pat Cassity was born April 12, 1931, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The daughter of Fred and Louvenia “Tommye” Gentry, she grew up in Tuscaloosa, graduating from Tuscaloosa High School in 1947. Pat was an accomplished musician from an early age. As a child, she took piano lessons, but the violin became her major instrument. Her parents initially rented a violin for her, then borrowed one – which was actually a hoedown fiddle with a rattlesnake rattle inside – and finally bought one from a neighbor. She began private lessons at The University of Alabama when she was 14. After graduating from high school at the age of 16, she enrolled at the University in the summer of 1947 as a music major, playing the violin in the university symphony orchestra. Before she finished her music degree, however, she moved to Anchorage, Alaska, to work at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Nevertheless, her love for music continued, and she joined the Anchorage Symphony.
Always regretful that she did not complete her college studies, she investigated the Back to Bama program seven decades after she had initially enrolled and discovered that she had accumulated enough hours to meet the requirements for a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies through the College of Human Environmental Sciences. In 2018, at the age of 87, she donned cap and gown and proudly walked across the stage at Coleman Coliseum to receive her diploma.
Her first career was with the Civil Service, during which she held several positions with both the U.S. Air Force and Army, beginning as a GS-2 and retiring as a GS-13, one of the female pioneers in a field overwhelmingly populated by males. She met her husband, Bo, after she moved to Mobile, Alabama, to work with the Air Force at Brookley Air Force Base. While working at Brookley Field, she was recognized by her military leadership for her bold and innovative proposal to redesign the aircraft maintenance parts supply process for production efficiency, saving a substantial amount of money for that program. Knowing her love of music, Bo encouraged her to continue using her talents, and, during her time in Mobile, she played with the Mobile Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, and the Pensacola Symphony.
When Brookley USAF Base reduced operations in 1964, she and Bo moved from the Air Force to the Army, taking jobs at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, a city which was booming as a result of the Space Race. With few houses available because of the huge influx of workers, they had to live in a hotel room before finding permanent housing, but Huntsville became home, and they put down roots in the growing city and raised their children there.
As she had done everywhere else she lived, Pat applied her musical talents as a violinist in the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and became an active member of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra Guild. In addition, she was heavily involved as a board member with the Huntsville Youth Orchestra, promoting music education and involvement for the young musicians of the area.
After retiring from Civil Service work, Pat moved into a second career as a realtor in 1979. Over the next 40+ years she achieved the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) designation, was an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR), and Graduate of the Real Estate Institute (GRI). Pat was well known in the industry, staying actively involved in all aspects, including serving as the 1993 President of the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors.
As a parent in the Huntsville City School System, she volunteered at her children’s schools and was instrumental in petitioning the Huntsville City Board of Education to procure land for a new building for Huntsville Middle School (now the current Huntsville Junior High School) in 1976.
She was a long-time member of First Baptist Church, Huntsville, serving faithfully as a Sunday School teacher and, of course, violinist in the church orchestra. She was a loving wife for 56 years, a devoted mother, a proud grandmother, and a treasured friend to many, many people.
Pallbearers are Noah Austin, Brady Rodenberry, Todd Brown, and Tom Kesting. Honorary Pallbearers are Charles Davis; Emile Alt; the First Baptist Airborne Sunday School Class; the nursing, physical therapy and occupational therapy staff from 3rd Floor East, and the nursing staff, palliative care, and hospice staff from 5th Floor West, Huntsville Hospital; Dr. Hemil S. Parikh, hospitalist; and the special caregivers who provided excellent service to Pat over many years.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to First Baptist Church, Huntsville, or to the Huntsville Youth Orchestra, in memory of Patricia Gentry Cassity.
