Cassandra Elisabeth Nixon Small, 77 of Altamonte Springs, Florida went to be with her beloved Lord and Savior on Thursday, March 12 after many years of fighting metastatic breast cancer and a long series of other complex illnesses. Her faith in and love of the Jesus was the center of her life, and she is finally home with Him – free from the body that had become such a burden.
Cassandra (Cassie) will be fondly remembered as a beautiful woman who loved her family, loved her friends, and loved nature, especially cats, snakes, spiders, birds, pineapples, fruit trees, mushrooms, and odd other things. She loved hiking on woodland trails with her husband John, stopping often to turn over rocks and downed palm fronds hoping to find snakes and bugs. She had a huge laugh and a wonderfully weird sense of humor - she could speak “Alfalfa Language” almost as well as she could speak English.
Cassie was artistic in many ways; she could draw almost anything, but she excelled in knitting. She had a t-shirt that said, “I make things from strings. What’s your superpower.” At Northland Church, the “Knit and Chat” group that she led for many years and the “Cut Ups” group were two of her favorite activities. She was accomplished at word games and politely policed bad grammar in speech and in online posts. Her musical talents included playing the piano and guitar and singing well-known hymns of the church. She loved holding a hymnal where she could read the music and join others in singing four-part harmony. She especially loved singing and listening to acapella singing and Taize music.
Cassie was born on April 10, 1948 in Terre Haute, Indiana to Robert Henry and Elisabeth (Kurzeder) Nixon. The family later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where she grew up. She moved to Columbus where she worked in respiratory therapy at Ohio State University. It was in Columbus where she met John, who fell instantly in love with her, and they moved to Florida when they were married in 1975.
Cassie graduated from Finneytown High School of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1966. She and her classmates often held parties in her father’s homemade bomb shelter. After graduation she attended Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Cincinnati and Grant Hospital School of Nursing in Columbus where she was graduated as an RN in 1971. She received her Bachelor of Science of Nursing from University of Phoenix in 2000.
Cassie worked as a Certified Respiratory Therapist and an RN for many years before finishing her nursing career as a Certified Case Manager. She possessed an enormous knowledge of all things medical, and used this knowledge to care for others. And she could watch Forensic Files on TV for hours, oftentimes figuring how a murder was committed long before the show revealed that to the audience. She loved reading; the Bible was her favorite book of course, but she also loved reading novels by forensic pathologist Patricia Cornwall.
Cassie was a lifelong Christian, steadfastly committed to her Lord to whom she prayed regularly. Here in Florida, she was a member of Rolling Hills Moravian Church and then for the last eighteen years an active member of Northland Church in Longwood. She was in training to be a deacon when her illnesses kept her from participating.
Cassie is survived by her devoted husband John Small, her loving children - daughter Leanne Daignault, sons Bryan Small and Charles Baldridge, and three adorable grandsons Jacob and Nathan Daignault and Joshua Baldridge. She had four sisters, one brother, and a host of cousins, nieces, and nephews, most of whom live in the United States with a few in Australia.
She was a cherished sister to her siblings, wife to her husband of 50 years, mother to her children, grandmother (Oma) to her grandsons, aunt to her nephews and nieces, and friend of many. Cassie was known and loved and will be remembered fondly and missed by many, many people whose lives she touched and enriched.
There will be a Memorial Service at Northland Church in Longwood, Florida on a date to be determined.
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Memorial Service
23
May
530 Dog Track Road
Longwood, FL 32750
