Hon. Willard W. “Bill” Cass Jr.

Bill was born on November 3, 1930, in Jamestown, NY, the son of the late Florence Venman and Willard W. Cass, Sr.

Bill passionately loved God, his family, and his country. He is survived by his beloved wife of 72 years, Florence “Floss” Cass; three children Susan (Russell) Marks of Charlottesville, VA, Laura (Kevin) McNamara of Cascade, ID and Hon. Stephen (Krista) Cass of Frewsburg; six grandchildren Cass (Dr. Alex Yep) Marks, Win (Annabelle) Marks, John McNamara, Kevin McNamara, Dr. Katelyn (Dr. James) Pizzo and Mckenzie (Casey) Farah; a great granddaughter Ellie Pizzo and a sister Janet Cass Erickson of Pasadena, CA.

Besides his parents he was preceded in death by a sister Nancy Cass Olson.

Bill graduated from Frewsburg Central School in 1948, after which he earned a degree from Michigan State University in 1952 and a few days later, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. Before Bill shipped out to Korea, he got a three-day pass so he could marry his high school sweetheart, Floss. Bill proudly served in Korea from 1952 to 1954, was promoted to First Lieutenant, and after the armistice, developed a strong interest in the courts and legal system. When he returned from the war, Bill decided to use the GI bill and pursue a law career, earning his Juris Doctorate from Albany School of Law in 1957.

Bill practiced law in Jamestown, NY for 14 years, becoming a Town Justice in the Town of Carroll in 1960, after which he was elected New York State Surrogate Court Judge in 1971, a role he would hold for nearly 30 years. When he officially retired in 1999, he continued to be active as a Judicial Hearing Officer and later was reelected as Justice for the Town of Carroll, bringing public service as a Judge to nearly 60 years.

A passionate big game hunter, Bill hunted in India and legally shot one of the last Bengal tigers in 1970 and killed the five most dangerous game in the world in Zambia in 1972 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and cape buffalo). He loved to tell how he shot the charging lion with his wife close by. In 1981, Bill became the 303rd person in the world to shoot the grand slam of sheep (Dahl, Desert, Rocky Mountain and Stone). While returning from hunting the Argali Big Horn Sheep in Mongolia, Bill and Floss were detained by the Russians for two days, during which time, they were surrounded by armed guards who ultimately filled Bill’s rifle barrel with glue. In addition to big game hunting, Bill loved elk hunting in Colorado and whitetail hunting on Farley, his favorite property in Western New York.

Bill and Floss loved to vacation with family, taking the entire group to Africa, Costa Rica, rafting down the Colorado and on many other adventures. During the holidays, they loved to rent a large house where all the family could gather to celebrate and spend treasured time together. Other adventures over the years included trips to Egypt where they climbed the Great Pyramid Cheops, biking through Normandy, traveling to India to see the Taj Mahal, cruising through the Galapagos Islands, boating down the Amazon River, and riding camels in Morocco.

Bill loved his garden and was very proud of his blueberries, peas, carrots and tomatoes. In fact, in restaurants he was known to say, “these don’t taste like my tomatoes!!”

He was a voracious reader, who might devour 3 books in a week, and especially loved WWII books during the last few years. In fact, if you took him to a Barnes and Noble, he knew exactly where to find the books on WWII.

Bill always had a sweet tooth and was known to stash Snickers, Milky Ways and Reese’s peanut butter cups in his hunting jacket and under his leather chair. He also loved milk shakes and root beer floats and later in life, was accustomed to having 3 or 4 or maybe even 5 a day!

A competitive and strong athlete, Bill was a shortstop on the baseball team. He also played basketball in high school where he proudly fouled out almost every game. Over the years, he took up running and competed in his first marathon – the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC on his 50th birthday. He also loved biking and swimming and participated in several triathlons over the years.

Bill enjoyed watching sports including the New York Yankees and Buffalo Bills. When he was a boy, Bill’s grandfather took him to 6 of the 7 games of the 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, where he saw Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson and many other baseball legends play ball.

He and Floss were also active members of a Tennis Club that they enjoyed very much with a group of their best friends and every Thursday night they would play tennis and enjoy dinner together.

Later in life, at age 91, Bill decided to take up running again. Unfortunately, he fell and broke his nose. But that didn’t stop him from jumping on a plane the next day to head to Klawock, Alaska to do a little salmon fishing!

If you visited Bill in June, you were sure to get your fill of strawberry shortcakes! He would quite often have one or two servings a day and with the leftover berries, he would make his special “Judge’s Jam” using his secret recipe.

Bill was an active and dedicated member of the community throughout his life. A devout Christian, Bill prayed and read his well-worn Bible every morning. In addition, he found time to teach Sunday School for many years, enriching the lives of the participants.

Bill held many community positions, including the president of Jamestown Bar Association, Chautauqua County Magistrates Association and New York State Surrogate’s Association. Bill was a founding director of the Robert H. Jackson Center and proudly served as a director of the Sportsmen’s Club.

Following a private ceremony in December, he was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, Frewsburg, NY.

A celebration of his life will be held in the summer of 2025.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Cass Family Fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.

You may leave words of condolence at www. lindfuneralhome.