Charles Edward CASSELMAN, Jr.

CASSELMAN, CALDWELL, BARRETT

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/5/2016 at 23:48:46

June 6, 1926 ---- April 29, 2016

MISSOULA, MT – Charles Edward Casselman Jr., 89, passed away Friday, April 29, 2016, at his home in Missoula of natural causes. He was born June 6, 1926, in Chadron, Nebraska, to Charles E. Casselman and Agnes (Caldwell) Casselman. Charles contracted polio as a child, and his grandmother introduced him to spinning to strengthen his legs. He was an avid spinner throughout his life, and owned over 30 spinning wheels.

Charles attended Rapid City High School in South Dakota, graduating in April of 1944. He attended the University of Omaha before being drafted into the U.S. Army in March of 1945, and honorably discharged in September 1946. He was a Trappist Monk at New Mellaray Abby in Dubuque, Iowa. He attended Drake University in Des Moines and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He attended Boston University College of Music, studying the arts, including theater drawing, costume design and stagecraft. Despite or perhaps because of his polio, Charles studied ballet; he performed on stage in New York City.

In 1954, Charles returned to Iowa and obtained a teaching certificate. He taught junior high and high school in Grafton, Iowa, including English, speech, and drama. He directed school plays and sponsored the school newspaper. He taught and coached drama in Sioux City, Iowa, from 1957-1959. He taught in Ainsworth, Nebraska, in 1959 and 1960, coaching junior and senior plays, directing the Thespians and he sponsored the school newspaper. He taught high school in Clarion, Iowa, in 1961-62.

Charles attended State University of South Dakota, Vermillion. In 1966, Charles was accepted as a member of Mensa. He also taught school in Conrad. He attended the University of Montana from 1966 through his graduation with a Master of Education in 1970, with graduate work in psychology until 1975. He became a Christian Scientist with an inquiring, critical mind, and studied the Bible extensively.

Charles married Ann Barrett Casselman on June 12, 1967, in Sloan, Iowa. They purchased property in Ravalli County in 1969. Although Charles and Ann divorced in 1996 and she died tragically in 2003, he loved her deeply until his death. In 2004, Charles sold his homes in Hamilton and moved from the Bitterroot Valley to Clinton, where he lived with his dog Arphie until the summer of 2015. He is deeply missed by his friends. Graveside services will be private.

Daily Missoulian -- Missoula, Montana
May 4, 2016

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[Charles Edward Casselman Jr. taught high school in Clarion, Iowa, in 1961-62]