Peter Cassanos' Obituary
Peter George Cassanos of Palm Harbor, Florida, passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 22, 2018, at the age of 97. Born July 13th, 1920, in Portland Maine to the late George and Caroline Cassanos, Pete grew up in humble circumstances - he would tell of childhood memories listening to the neighbors radio while hiding outside their open window. Perhaps a result, he believed in hard work. He worked 2 jobs as a young teenager during the Depression, both as a caddy at a local golf course and a busboy in a diner. Pete continued working until he was 78 years old, with his last job being a tee time starter at the Belleair Country Club.
In between those jobs, Pete joined the Navy as a Lieutenant and flight instructor during WWII. It was there that he met Helen Lynch,the love of his life, who also trained pilots. After the war, they maintained a long distance relationship, with Helen pursuing her graduate degree and career in social work in Chicago and Peter in Boston pursuing his own education as an Engineer at Northeastern University. Meanwhile he also pursued her with weekly letters... for 10 years. When asked later in life what took them so long to get married, Helen said laughing “I wanted to make sure he was the ‘right one’, and seeing how he treated his own mother, I knew he was a good man.”
Pete and Helen married in 1955 and were happy together until her death in 2005. When Helen went through a serious illness in the early 1970’s, Pete was a nurturing and tender spouse, with demanding work and 5 young kids at home. The role was one he repeated when Helen was ill on-and-off later in life.
After the war, Pete was a working musician for several years - playing saxophone and clarinet in several trios, quartets and “Big Bands”.
After finishing school he worked as an Engineer in Quality Control for General Electric in Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania and for Philco Ford in Indiana, after which he was a Plant Manager for Diebold in Ohio. He and Helen later opened up their own business, an Employment Agency in Newark Ohio.
Throughout his life, Pete was an avid golfer, as reflected in his late “career change” to the golf course. He proudly displayed his trophies won over the years at the club tournaments that he entered. Pete had a hard time sitting still if there was anything needing to be done. He couldn’t resist jumping up to wipe a bit of dust or straighten a picture while he was watching TV (except when sleeping in front of the TV). When he “retired” to Florida, in addition to working at the golf course, he took on the role of President of the Condo Association where he was happy being responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the 100+ unit complex.
Pete loved to laugh at a joke or story. For years he was a dedicated member of the ROMEO’s (retired old men eating out) at Pennwood Manor in Clearwater, where corny jokes told over a weekly breakfast reached an art form. Pete was also remarkably active - going to the gym 3 times a week until the last year of his life. This, despite his gradual loss of vision over the last
15 years. He was a decent cook and made Baklava that would rival that of any of the local Greek restaurants.
A dedicated family man, Pete was thrilled when grandkids finally came into his life. He loved being Papou to his 10 grandkids, and was a proud father to his 5 children. He is preceded in death by his wife Helen and brothers Jim and Paul Cassanos. He is survived by sister Ellen Trearchis and brothers Fortie and Basil Cassanos, children Peter (Laura) Cassanos, Dan (Lorrie) Cassanos, John Cassanos (Phu Ngo), Mary Cassanos, and Catherine (Mark) Campfield, and grandchildren Elena, RaeAnn, Caroline, Danielle, Danny, Peter, John, Robby, Nick, and Ben.
Visitation will be at the funeral home, Tuesday February 27 starting at 11:00AM, followed by a service at 1:00PM.
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