News Release

In Memoriam: Cassie Wasko

July 17, 2000

Tribute to Cassie Wasko

Cassie H. Wasko, executor director of the Chatham County Council on Aging, died Monday, July 10. She was 51.

This was the simple and hard fact that we learned as many of us were preparing to leave for Asheville to attend the Summer Symposium on Aging. While the symposium was very educational and enjoyable, it was not the same without Cassie who had planned to attend with four of her staff members.

Cassie was a very special person. Her path to aging services started when she was editor of the Chatham News, and she would rush home after work everyday to care for her mother who was dying of breast cancer. After assuming the job of Council on Aging director in 1991, she quickly made her mark not only in Chatham County but for aging in the State and nation. She built a local program that started with five employees in cramped quarters into an expanding agency that now employs 17 staff members and offers a wide array of community services. She served as chairwoman of the board for the National Accreditation for Home Care. As president of the North Carolina Association on Aging for two terms, Cassie led this organization through creation of a foundation, the hiring of an executive director, and growth in membership and influence. She was an outspoken and articulate advocate for older adults, especially those who are disadvantaged because of the simultaneous effects of being old, minority, female and poor.

As a fellow resident of Chatham County, I saw the positive effect of Cassie's work up close and personal. As The Chatham Record described Cassie, she was "a long-time advocate for a wide range of human service concerns and causes." Cassie credited her parents and her maternal grandfather with instilling in her the importance of community service. Her lengthy career of volunteer service included helping her mother start Hospice of Chatham County. At the time of her death, Cassie was also serving as a Pittsboro town commissioner and mayor pro tem.

When most people would not believe that it was possible to build a new senior center in Chatham County, she not only conducted a successful capital campaign to build an attractive multipurpose facility in less than a year, but she led the center in its selection by the North Carolina Division of Aging as one of the first two programs to earn a Senior Center of Excellence rating. Cassie was a visionary and a doer. She created a highly successful annual fundraising event "The Taste of Chatham" to further the work of the Council on Aging. She made me buy tickets every year.

Her proudest moments, though, were when she reached out and helped those who were in the most dire straits. At a time when people seem fascinated with the television exploits of "Survivor" and "Big Brother," which focus on competition and the division of people, Cassie sought to assure equity and the inclusion of all people. Cassie will be missed for her humor, resourcefulness, frankness, and numerous other desirable qualities, but most of all aging in Chatham County and in North Carolina will miss her obsession to serve. She truly wanted to make a positive difference for her staff members, her peers, and most of all for older adults and their family caregivers. We will remember her for the tremendous difference she did make.

She would be happy to know that we will continue her work in advocating for the needs and interests of seniors. She would also appreciate our reaching out to her employees and volunteers at the Chatham Council on Aging during this time of uncertainty and distress. Notes of encouragement and memorial gifts can be made to the Cassie Wasko Memorial Fund at the Chatham County Council on Aging, P.O. Box 715, Pittsboro, NC 27312.

- Dennis W. Streets, Assistant Director, North Carolina Division of Aging