- Born on: July 11, 1924
- Departed on: April 29, 2015
- Resided in: Des Moines, IA
Catherine Mildred Flaherty
Classy is the adjective often used to describe Catherine (Cassie) Whall Lind Flaherty. Classy Cassie was a moniker affectionately used to describe this Irish beauty her entire life. Cassie was the fourth child born, July 11th, 1924 to William F Whall and Catherine Coulter. Cassie spent her first eighteen years in Dorchester attending St. Matthews and Dorchester High School. The nuns at St. Matthews played an important role in Cassie's early childhood development and left an indelible mark as they drilled elocution, Latin, poetry, classic literature and penmanship into the young and vivacious Catherine. Like most families of that era, the Whall family experienced pains of the depression. Catherine would often recall kindnesses the nuns and Jewish neighbors extended to her family. She often spoke, with great affection, of her older siblings, Bill and Mary, who assumed additional work and parental responsibilities when their mother worked outside the home. Cassie had a special bond with her brother Frank, who teased her mercilessly, and her baby sister, Theresa, for whom she named her first daughter. When the war came, young Catherine took a job in the Boston Navy Yard. It was during this time sister Mary suggested she go out with a handsome sailor from Iowa. The story goes the young sailor arrived, escorted Cassie to a Red Sox game and proposed that very night.
When you look at a picture of the young Wallace and Catherine it is not difficult to understand their attraction. They were incredibly beautiful. Big Wally may have been a tad bit aggressive with his proposal but Cassie must have been smitten. The big Swede and Classy Cassie were married June 20th, 1943 in Dorchester, Mass. Cassie stayed and worked in Boston when Wallace was twice deployed to the South Pacific aboard the USS Lexington.
When the war was over Wally and Cassie first settled in Marathon and then Laurens. From 1946 to 1954 five children were born........Terry, Gina, Bobbi, Wallace and Kevin. Wally and Cassie moved their young family multiple times to meet the job demands Wally had as head foreman for C I Hersom Construction. In the mid sixties Wally started his own business, R W Lind Construction. Two more children, the "little girls", Cassie and Susie, rounded out the Lind family. The ensuing years were typical for families of that generation. Cassie stayed home and cared for her children and Big Wally provided for and protected his family. With a Bostonian mother, the Lind children had a unique upbringing. For example, they got a daily lecture about the dangers of being kidnapped. Realize this happened as they prepared to walk the perilous three blocks to school. Catherine raised her children in a home filled with music, poetry, words and humor. Catherine laughed with a very identifiable cackle and, if really amused, an entire body shake. It was a goal of her teen age children to get her in such a state of uncontrolled laughter it necessitated crossing her legs, reaching out to prop herself against a wall and begging them to stop. Cassie demanded her girls stand tall and walk with grace. She enforced the strictest of dress protocol for her children......nothing suggestive or with too much color for her daughters and Dockers for her rebellious sons.......long after blue jeans were the norm. Catherine hauled her children to piano lessons weekly and mass each Sunday. The Lind family usually sat together........Sacred Heart.....three quarters of the way up on the left side......right behind the Olberdings. In the early days they would join the Benz and Fuchs families for orange pop and rolls at Blondie's Cafe after mass. Cassie's Catholic faith was a constant in her life and her children never missed mass. Cassie freely volunteered the Lind children's time......beginning with Terry as church organist. She didn't really care that Terry was the only one who could play worth a darn. Sacred Heart needed an organist for daily mass so the Lind kids would be there. Big Wally would often attend those early morning masses and if the playing got too bad (Bobbi) he would simply stand by to pull the plug.
Catherine raised her children with a love of words and literature. No one read a story like her. The Tall Book of Make Believe was Cassie's favorite and she made the characters and stories come alive. Cassie's children could hear the boards creak and imagined themselves nestled in the tiny little house with the tiny little man. Cassie loved to recite poems the nuns taught her or admonish her children with Shakespearean warnings......"How sharper than a serpent's tooth" or "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much". Cassie was both articulate and funny. She expressed herself quickly and concisely and expected that of others. Bless the child who stumbled and rambled in an attempt to relay a thought to her. The Lind clan turned out to be pretty good communicators and that is due, in large part, to Cassie's intolerance of a poorly conveyed thought.
Every tribe has a language and music is most certainly the way the Linds best communicate. Every family trip taken began with the ritual of Cassie picking a song and the family chiming in. Wally got the next turn (As Long As You’re Not In Love With Anyone Else) and it progressed to the children. When the round was made, the singing began again with Cassie. The station wagon, whether taking the Lind family down highway 10 to Grandma's house or to Boston, always rocked with enthusiastic melodies, Cassie's occasional harmony and Wally's unforgettable ...my-pretty-baby-Irish tenor ending.
Music is the language and humor the glue that binds the Linds in good times and sustains them in tragedy. Wally and Cassie loved music and to make each other laugh. They shared a right-of-center kind of quirky humor they passed to their children. When they overheard a man one beautiful fall day remark to his wife that the "trees is lovely" and she responded "ain't they" it became part of Lind talk. If the Lind children are anywhere and see a beautiful tree they simply look at each other and say......."trees is lovely". Wally loved to come home from the job site to entertain Cassie with some observation he knew she would enjoy. (Not in this house, Wallace, not now or ever). Cassie's Irish wit and Wally's physical comedy provided fodder for a home resonating with laughter. Only Cassie and Wally would tuck their kids to bed on a Saturday night, fix themselves a steak, break out a cold beer and howl as they watched the Barn Dance. (I Got Straight A's In Love) Saturday night would also find them enjoying a steak at the Chow House or dancing to the Frank Jonas Orchestra with Ed and Elizabeth, Bob and Janice, Ed and Betty and Warren and Rosie. Cassie's friendship with Louise Hile began when the young minister's wife moved in across the street from the spunky Irish Catholic. Cassie taught Louise how to tap dance and together, much to Wally's dismay, they went door to door one Halloween night howling with laughter. Cassie always referred to Louise as......my dearest friend, Louise.
When Wally was felled by a stroke in his early 50's, Catherine found work outside the home. In the ensuing years she worked for OEO and American Cancer Society. Cassie was an accomplished and highly respected employee. During these years she returned to school and earned a degree in English. Cassie would want it noted she got straight A's......of course.
Wally died in 1977 and Cassie continued to work and raise her two girls, Cassie and Susie. In 1982 Cassie married Leo Flaherty. Leo and Cassie owned Cassie's Collectables for several years. Cassie loved her shop.....both collecting and visiting with fellow antique enthusiasts. Leo was an avid gardener and tremendous cook. He and Cassie fulfilled a life-long dream of traveling to Ireland, accompanied by Terry and Wallace, where they visited the Brogan family. It was, Cassie would often say, one of her best life experiences.
After Leo died Cassie split her time between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines to be near her children. As the ravages of Alzheimer's took a toll Catherine found loving care at Trinity Center in Des Moines. Catherine struggled, with courage and class, as she dealt with the progression of the disease. The music and laughter that defined her mothering sustained her until the end and provided a vital form of communication with her children. Long after she no longer knew who they were she would recall the lyrics of her favorite songs. When some absurd thing would happen, as it often does in Alzheimer's wards, Cassie could still furrow her brow, open her eyes in a deer-in headlight expression and put her mouth in small pleats. Over the years that expression meant multiple things.......but usually an expression of her quirky humor. The years at Trinity were sad and unmerciful by some score.....but filled with courage, grace and kindness beyond measure.
Catherine was, without doubt, a complex woman. She didn't suffer fools gladly nor possess an abundance of patience. She could recall, with remarkable clarity and Irish sensitivity, slights she perceived from years past. "Hyacinths for hyacinth's sake" was a favorite quote and aptly described Cassie's love for the aesthetic. Catherine showed great empathy for those she perceived less fortunate. She admonished her children to be kind to everyone and hauled her daughters to the nursing home to make weekly visits. Cassie took many people, young and old, under her wing and cared for them with rides, visits, counsel and humor.
Cassie viewed her children with an irrational pride and sense of individual worth. They will miss her pep talks with the assurance everyone who employed them was "lucky to have them" and anyone who crossed them "had NO idea who they were dealing with".
Catherine was preceded in death by her husbands, RW Lind and Leo Flaherty, her daughter and son-in-law Mark and Cassie Langstaff, grandchildren Caitlin and Nick Gerboth and brother William Wall.
Catherine is survived by her children Terry (Jim) Benson, Regina(Doug) Nassif, Bobbi(Brent) Mechler, Robert Wallace (Heide) Lind, Kevin (Chris) Lind and Susie (Bryan) Stearns. She also leaves 23 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, three siblings and a host of extended family.
When you look at a picture of the young Wallace and Catherine it is not difficult to understand their attraction. They were incredibly beautiful. Big Wally may have been a tad bit aggressive with his proposal but Cassie must have been smitten. The big Swede and Classy Cassie were married June 20th, 1943 in Dorchester, Mass. Cassie stayed and worked in Boston when Wallace was twice deployed to the South Pacific aboard the USS Lexington.
When the war was over Wally and Cassie first settled in Marathon and then Laurens. From 1946 to 1954 five children were born........Terry, Gina, Bobbi, Wallace and Kevin. Wally and Cassie moved their young family multiple times to meet the job demands Wally had as head foreman for C I Hersom Construction. In the mid sixties Wally started his own business, R W Lind Construction. Two more children, the "little girls", Cassie and Susie, rounded out the Lind family. The ensuing years were typical for families of that generation. Cassie stayed home and cared for her children and Big Wally provided for and protected his family. With a Bostonian mother, the Lind children had a unique upbringing. For example, they got a daily lecture about the dangers of being kidnapped. Realize this happened as they prepared to walk the perilous three blocks to school. Catherine raised her children in a home filled with music, poetry, words and humor. Catherine laughed with a very identifiable cackle and, if really amused, an entire body shake. It was a goal of her teen age children to get her in such a state of uncontrolled laughter it necessitated crossing her legs, reaching out to prop herself against a wall and begging them to stop. Cassie demanded her girls stand tall and walk with grace. She enforced the strictest of dress protocol for her children......nothing suggestive or with too much color for her daughters and Dockers for her rebellious sons.......long after blue jeans were the norm. Catherine hauled her children to piano lessons weekly and mass each Sunday. The Lind family usually sat together........Sacred Heart.....three quarters of the way up on the left side......right behind the Olberdings. In the early days they would join the Benz and Fuchs families for orange pop and rolls at Blondie's Cafe after mass. Cassie's Catholic faith was a constant in her life and her children never missed mass. Cassie freely volunteered the Lind children's time......beginning with Terry as church organist. She didn't really care that Terry was the only one who could play worth a darn. Sacred Heart needed an organist for daily mass so the Lind kids would be there. Big Wally would often attend those early morning masses and if the playing got too bad (Bobbi) he would simply stand by to pull the plug.
Catherine raised her children with a love of words and literature. No one read a story like her. The Tall Book of Make Believe was Cassie's favorite and she made the characters and stories come alive. Cassie's children could hear the boards creak and imagined themselves nestled in the tiny little house with the tiny little man. Cassie loved to recite poems the nuns taught her or admonish her children with Shakespearean warnings......"How sharper than a serpent's tooth" or "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much". Cassie was both articulate and funny. She expressed herself quickly and concisely and expected that of others. Bless the child who stumbled and rambled in an attempt to relay a thought to her. The Lind clan turned out to be pretty good communicators and that is due, in large part, to Cassie's intolerance of a poorly conveyed thought.
Every tribe has a language and music is most certainly the way the Linds best communicate. Every family trip taken began with the ritual of Cassie picking a song and the family chiming in. Wally got the next turn (As Long As You’re Not In Love With Anyone Else) and it progressed to the children. When the round was made, the singing began again with Cassie. The station wagon, whether taking the Lind family down highway 10 to Grandma's house or to Boston, always rocked with enthusiastic melodies, Cassie's occasional harmony and Wally's unforgettable ...my-pretty-baby-Irish tenor ending.
Music is the language and humor the glue that binds the Linds in good times and sustains them in tragedy. Wally and Cassie loved music and to make each other laugh. They shared a right-of-center kind of quirky humor they passed to their children. When they overheard a man one beautiful fall day remark to his wife that the "trees is lovely" and she responded "ain't they" it became part of Lind talk. If the Lind children are anywhere and see a beautiful tree they simply look at each other and say......."trees is lovely". Wally loved to come home from the job site to entertain Cassie with some observation he knew she would enjoy. (Not in this house, Wallace, not now or ever). Cassie's Irish wit and Wally's physical comedy provided fodder for a home resonating with laughter. Only Cassie and Wally would tuck their kids to bed on a Saturday night, fix themselves a steak, break out a cold beer and howl as they watched the Barn Dance. (I Got Straight A's In Love) Saturday night would also find them enjoying a steak at the Chow House or dancing to the Frank Jonas Orchestra with Ed and Elizabeth, Bob and Janice, Ed and Betty and Warren and Rosie. Cassie's friendship with Louise Hile began when the young minister's wife moved in across the street from the spunky Irish Catholic. Cassie taught Louise how to tap dance and together, much to Wally's dismay, they went door to door one Halloween night howling with laughter. Cassie always referred to Louise as......my dearest friend, Louise.
When Wally was felled by a stroke in his early 50's, Catherine found work outside the home. In the ensuing years she worked for OEO and American Cancer Society. Cassie was an accomplished and highly respected employee. During these years she returned to school and earned a degree in English. Cassie would want it noted she got straight A's......of course.
Wally died in 1977 and Cassie continued to work and raise her two girls, Cassie and Susie. In 1982 Cassie married Leo Flaherty. Leo and Cassie owned Cassie's Collectables for several years. Cassie loved her shop.....both collecting and visiting with fellow antique enthusiasts. Leo was an avid gardener and tremendous cook. He and Cassie fulfilled a life-long dream of traveling to Ireland, accompanied by Terry and Wallace, where they visited the Brogan family. It was, Cassie would often say, one of her best life experiences.
After Leo died Cassie split her time between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines to be near her children. As the ravages of Alzheimer's took a toll Catherine found loving care at Trinity Center in Des Moines. Catherine struggled, with courage and class, as she dealt with the progression of the disease. The music and laughter that defined her mothering sustained her until the end and provided a vital form of communication with her children. Long after she no longer knew who they were she would recall the lyrics of her favorite songs. When some absurd thing would happen, as it often does in Alzheimer's wards, Cassie could still furrow her brow, open her eyes in a deer-in headlight expression and put her mouth in small pleats. Over the years that expression meant multiple things.......but usually an expression of her quirky humor. The years at Trinity were sad and unmerciful by some score.....but filled with courage, grace and kindness beyond measure.
Catherine was, without doubt, a complex woman. She didn't suffer fools gladly nor possess an abundance of patience. She could recall, with remarkable clarity and Irish sensitivity, slights she perceived from years past. "Hyacinths for hyacinth's sake" was a favorite quote and aptly described Cassie's love for the aesthetic. Catherine showed great empathy for those she perceived less fortunate. She admonished her children to be kind to everyone and hauled her daughters to the nursing home to make weekly visits. Cassie took many people, young and old, under her wing and cared for them with rides, visits, counsel and humor.
Cassie viewed her children with an irrational pride and sense of individual worth. They will miss her pep talks with the assurance everyone who employed them was "lucky to have them" and anyone who crossed them "had NO idea who they were dealing with".
Catherine was preceded in death by her husbands, RW Lind and Leo Flaherty, her daughter and son-in-law Mark and Cassie Langstaff, grandchildren Caitlin and Nick Gerboth and brother William Wall.
Catherine is survived by her children Terry (Jim) Benson, Regina(Doug) Nassif, Bobbi(Brent) Mechler, Robert Wallace (Heide) Lind, Kevin (Chris) Lind and Susie (Bryan) Stearns. She also leaves 23 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, three siblings and a host of extended family.
