A Community of Support
Robert Cassie with his wife Kathy Cassie; two children, Kris Cassie and Megan Roche; and his granddaughter Alyssa Cassie
Grand Valley’s story started with a group of dedicated community members who saw a need for a public university in West Michigan. More than 60 years later, Grand Valley has continued to grow, and the relationships with the community have only become stronger. Much like the one with the Cassie family.
Robert and Kathy Cassie lived in Grand Rapids for 16 years. One thing they loved to do together was visit downtown. They would often see GVSU students walking around campus, and they would talk about what a great place it must be to go to school. Robert always encouraged his children and grandchildren to be lifelong learners. He was even hopeful that maybe one of his grandchildren might attend Grand Valley in the future.
After Robert’s passing in 2015, Kathy moved to Illinois to be closer to their children. But a part of her heart stayed in West Michigan. It was such a special place for their family. To this day, Kathy, her children, and grandchildren continue to enjoy yearly family vacations to the lake towns near Grand Rapids. When Kathy’s granddaughter Alyssa shared that she was going to attend Grand Valley, Kathy was beyond excited, and she knew Robert would have been too.
With Alyssa enrolled at GVSU and active in the GVSU Rowing Club, the Cassie family has even more reason to visit West Michigan and the university. However, their relationship doesn’t stop there. In October of 2022 the Cassie Family Foundation established the Robert T. Cassie Endowed Scholarship.
Robert and Kathy’s children Kris (Becky) Cassie and Megan Roche serve as board members for the Cassie Family Foundation. Their reason for the scholarship was simple…
“The Robert T. Cassie Endowed Scholarship was set up to serve two-fold. One is to honor a man who was instrumental to his children’s success and supported his entire family’s educational aspirations. The second is to provide ongoing support for GVSU students in the biomedical sciences program. We are happy we have the ability to support GVSU students on their educational journey and proud to donate to a university that provides outstanding education opportunities.”
Thanks to the Cassie Family Foundation, Robert’s legacy of supporting learners in their educational aspirations will live on through the students at Grand Valley.