Obituary of Joy Anne Cassano

If you are reading this, then I have lost my battle to MDS that progressed into to Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Sept 21,2022. I gave this illness my all and my twin sister gave it her best with her Stem Cell Donation. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.  

 

Joy Anne (Little) Cassano was born to Hazel I. (Aro) Little and Merrill E. Little, Aug 3, 1951, along with her twin sister Jane M. Little, who have been each other’s best friend since birth. 

 

Joy attended Ericsson Elementary, Central Jr. High School and graduated from Superior Senior High School in 1969. She attended Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College and enlisted with the United States Army. In 1973 she attended Fort Benjamin Harrison (ADPE) schooling. Shortly thereafter, she was stationed in Germany, where she met Wesley James Cassano and they married Oct. 12, 1974. Together they had two daughters, Christina, and Valerie. After being honorably discharged from the Army she returned to Superior, where she raised her two daughters and remained a life-long resident. 

 

In addition to being a wonderful mother, she was employed by the Douglas County Commission on Aging/Senior Connections for 27 years. She recently retired from Chartwells at UW-Superior after 7 years of employment. 

 

She is survived by her daughters Christina Joy Cassano and Valerie Jane Vo (Duc). Her grandchildren Taylm Joy Cassano and Jaxson Tan Vo. Her siblings Marilyn Pank (John/Jack), Mary Daniels-Castonguay (Terry), twin sister Jane Little and Dana LaGesse (Robert). Along with many nieces, nephews and cousins who she enjoyed spending holidays and numerous family gatherings with. Joy is preceded in death by her younger brother Grant Little, her parents, her maternal grandparents Otto (Hjalmer) and Emillia Aro and paternal grandparents Violet and Phillip Little.

 

Joy enjoyed gardening, crocheting, coffee with neighbors, reading and swimming in Lake Superior. Her greatest joys were spending time with her grandchildren, celebrating, and decorating for Halloween. She was known for making the best ribs and baked beans in town. Famous for her holiday pies and making homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning for family. She even grew pumpkins for pumpkin pies for her daughter Valerie’s birthday. 

 

Her wishes are to have a Celebration of Life, but not just any celebration. She left strict instructions to celebrate her by having a party. A party with Miller Lite, a Halloween theme, live music with a special request of Wipe Out to be played. Keeping with the Halloween theme, costumes will be admired, but are not required. There will be light refreshments served and will take place on Saturday November 5, 2022, at the Billings Park Civic Center 4-8 p.m.

 

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating blood or blood products to your local blood bank and/or donations payable to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

 

My family would like to thank the Mayo Clinic for their expert care that allowed us to have some precious extra months with our mom, St. Luke’s for their continuous care and to everyone who has donated blood. We would also like to thank her nurse Sue, her nursing assistant Mary, her caretaker Mary Pat and the Chartwells family for all the support they have provided during this time. We would also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family for their love and support throughout this journey. We will miss our mother dearly, her boisterous laugh and even her opinionated comments, but mostly her kind heart and love.