Rest In Peace

                                          Cynthia Lynn (Jolly) Cassidy

                                   December 3, 1966 - October 23, 2020

Cassidy (Jolly), Cynthia Lynn of Coon Rapids, MN, Age 53.

Cindy died Friday, October 23, 2020, after a long and painful struggle with cancer. She was guided to the threshold of the next world by Grendel, our watch cat, who allowed Charles and Rachel to be present.

Preceded in death by grandparents Ray and Florence Stratton (to whom she was particularly close), stepfather Robert Gagnon, nephews Mark Morton, and Jeffrey, Jordan, and Jared Walters.

Survived by husband Charles, daughter Rachel, son Thomas, mother Delores Gagnon, sisters Kimberly (LD) Walters and Susan (Anthony) Morton, brothers Timothy (Beverly) Jolly and Daniel (Becky) Jolly, numerous nieces and nephews, and her therapy dog Hannah.

Cindy dedicated her life to caring for others. She was a beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. As a Doctor of Psychology, she specialized in the care of those who suffered from PTSD, and those who were on the Autism spectrum, or who had family members who were. She was a ferocious advocate for her clients, a tendency that had started many years previously.  There weren't very many stray animals who crossed her path who didn't get adopted by Cindy - she loved animals so much. Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, she continued to care for her clients until her pain became too great.

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Academic Accomplishments And Activities

Cindy was active in numerous extracurricular activities in school.  She was a member of the Job's Daughters branch of the Masons. She participated in Revolutionary War reenactments with her brother Dan. Cindy has always loved music, and so was a member of the Marching Band and Color Guard, and the Drama Club at Mount Morris High School.  She earned a membership in the National Honor Society.  Her love of animals was developed during her time in 4-H. 

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Military, Marriage, and Motherhood

Cindy joined the U.S. Army straight out of High School.  She went to Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and on completing that, she went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for her Advanced Individual Training.  While she was there, Cindy met her husband Charles.  It was mutual dislike at first sight.  Fortunately for Charles, over time that changed to "I kinda like (him/her)", then changed to "I really like (him/her)", and before they knew it, they were planning their lives together (with children - more on that to follow). They got married in Las Vegas on January 18, 1986, and immediately started advanced family planning.  It finally paid off on January 22, 1987, when Rachel and Thomas were born.  Rachel was born two minutes earlier than Thomas, a fact that she never let him forget.

Cindy was very protective of her children. Rachel and Thomas are very smart, a fact we discovered before they even started school.  Once they started school, however, we found that Thomas needed an IEP (Individualized Education Program) because he was on the Autism Spectrum (a term that we hadn't discovered yet), and would occasionally behave in ways that the teachers didn't understand.  Cindy became our in-house expert on IEPs, and made sure that the schools lived up to the terms of the IEPs.  Eventually, she did the same with Rachel.  She did so well that Rachel and Thomas eventually became able to manage their own schoolwork.  Thomas eventually graduated from Minnesota State College (Mankato) with a Bachelor's Degree, and Rachel graduated from Minnesota School of Business with an Associate's Degree in Veterinary Technology. Rachel currently lives at home with Charles, and Thomas lives in Calgary, Alberta.

When Charles announced that he, "had finally figured out what he wanted to be when he grew up", Cindy guided him through the process of getting enrolled, selecting classes, and arranging finances.  So, with her help, guidance, and support, in 2001 Charles went back to school to become a Registered Nurse.  He completed that educational goal in 2005, and graduated from North Hennepin Community College as an Associate Degree Registered Nurse. So, any time anyone asks who's to blame for inflicting Charles on the world as an RN, he makes sure that Cindy gets full credit.

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College Career

When Cindy originally started college, she intended to become a teacher.  One of her classes, "An Introduction To Abnormal Psychology" so captured her, that she changed the direction of her education with the goal of becoming a Psychologist.  Several colleges and a dozen years later, she graduated from Argosy University as a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in October 2006.  Her husband and children were there to cheer her on, along with an albino squirrel who came by later to offer his congratulations.

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Experience As A Psychologist

She gained practical experience at being a Psychologist during her education and afterwards at several locations.  She served her practicum at the Regional Treatment Center in Anoka with visits to the Treatment Center in St Peter.  She also worked an internship in Rome, Georgia for a year.  Once she graduated, she worked at Western Mental Health in Marshall, Minnesota, and later at Redwood Falls, Minnesota.  It was while she was in Redwood Falls that she became very sick from exposure to an environmental toxin in the farmhouse that she was renting.  She eventually had to stop working for about 5 years until she recovered her health.

When she recovered her health, she went to work at BHSI in Fridley, where she and her therapy dog Hannah were always in high demand. She worked there until her cancer forced her to stop practicing.

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The Animals In Her Life

Our history with nonhuman family members started with Sammy.  He was an Australian Terrier (looked like a Yorkshire Terrier on steroids), who Cindy found one cold, wet, windy evening in Germany.  She had just returned from grocery shopping, and there was Sammy, miserable and trying to get inside anywhere.  Cindy took pity on him and brought him into the house.  Since we had no dogfood, she fed him the next best thing - a package of hotdogs.  Well, from that time forward, Sammy had found a home.

We brought Sammy back with us from Germany when we were reassigned to Fort Lewis, Washington.  I had to work every day, Cindy had a job on post several days a week, and the kids were in school.  Cindy didn't want Sammy to get lonely, so she took the kids to go find another animal to keep him company.  They went to a family that had several kittens available, and took a look. Predictably, Thomas liked a tuxedo kitten, and Rachel liked an orange tabby kitten.  They couldn't agree on just one, so Cindy brought them both home.  This started a trend with cats, "Never bring one home when more are available".

Over time, we have had at least 18 different animals, culminating in our current five, Hannah, Cindy's therapy dog, Charlie, our doggie doorbell, Polly, our tortoiseshell cat who has 7 extra toes, Kitten who wasn't supposed to stay and was never given a proper name, and our Cat-Dog, or maybe Dog-Cat, Grendel.  We are convinced that she has some Dog DNA - she plays fetch (even with potatoes!), and comes when her name is called.

And those are only the ones who lived in the house.  There have also been horses, goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks far too numerous to count.  When Cindy was still at Redwood Falls, she would come home at the end of a day at work, immediately go to her chicken coop, and sit there with the chickens all cuddling up around her.  She called it her therapy. When she had to leave Redwood Falls, she and Rachel arranged a new home for her farm animals with a family in Princeton, Minnesota who over time became very dear friends.

If you had asked Cindy who was her favorite of all, she would have said, "Jesse".  Jesse was a pygmy goat who was born on a cold Minnesota February morning while Cindy was at Redwood Falls.  She always checked on her animals before going to work.  On that morning, she found a newborn Jesse alone in a corner in the barn where he had been deserted by his mother.  Cindy took him inside to warm him up, then took him to the vet.  Jesse survived that day, and spent the next several months living in the farmhouse with Cindy. They became very close, so close, in fact, that Jesse considered Cindy his mother.  They maintained that close relationship until Jesse died peacefully five years later, while taking a nap on a beautiful, warm May morning.

Each and every one of these animals was loved and cared for by Cindy.  Most of them also returned that love, and some became quite attached to her. It is notable that with only one exception, Hannah, every other animal in Cindy's life has been either a foundling or a rescue.  She knew who needed love and care the most.

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In Summary

There is much about Cindy that cannot be told here because there is neither enough space nor time.  Cindy overcame many obstacles, beginning in her childhood, to become the loving, caring, person she was.  Her focus was always on the wellbeing of others, and she dedicated her life to that.  Charles has always claimed that he was rescued by Cindy, and could not imagine a life without her.  That is now the position we all find ourselves in, a world without Cindy.  We are all far richer for having had her as a part of our lives, and poorer for her loss. We can best honor her memory, when faced by difficult decisions, by thinking, "WWCD" (sorry for the plagiarism). She would be pleased by that.

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Memorials For Cindy

A Celebration of Life for Cindy is scheduled for May 29, 2021. See caringbridge.org/visit/… for details.

Instead of sending flowers, please make a donation in Cindy's name to one of the following organizations: St. Jude Hospitals for Children, or The Autism Society of MN.

Published on October 29, 2020