Farewell to dear friend Padre Michael Cassidy

Merchant Marine, Toronto Police, Whitchurch-Stouffville Police, Padre Canadian Armed Forces, Navy League… Private Investigator

Pastor Michael Maurice Cassidy passed on Sunday, January 14, 2024, at 89 years. Each of us would do well in our lifetime to have the respect and love that this faithful servant garnered.

As a young and self-confessed “pretty rough” merchant marine sailor, Mike fell so in love with Irene in post-war Britain. But his future wife wouldn’t even speak with him unless it was at church under the watchful eyes of her parents and the congregation. Irene was attracted to Mike, but she had her standards.

And so, Michael first heard The Word – and it took. Irene and Mike immigrated to Canada and produced two daughters and five grandchildren.

Michael served as a Constable with the Toronto Police and Whitchurch-Stouffville Police before founding a licensed Private Investigation Agency in Barrie, Ontario where I first met him about 1988.

Family First

Family always came first for Michael and Irene, and so it was he left the police service. As Michael told me, it was no contest when he had to choose between his family and a job he loved. He was my support and counsel when I later made that same choice – even hiring me as a private investigator and teaching me to thrive in that profession.

Canada’s Abandoned Warriors

Starting in earnest with the first Gulf War in 1990, for over three decades Padre Cassidy devoted himself to bringing care and healing to Canada’s military veterans. He was a regular fixture at Remembrance Day Ceremonies and military parades, but his most important work was always one-on-one with the injured, damaged, and destroyed warriors that Canada so shamefully abandoned – and continues to abandon.

Goodbye Mike, and thank you.

Pastor Michael Maurice Cassidy’s family and friends celebrated his life and laid him to rest on Saturday, January 20, 2024.