Attorney Diane Gwyneth Pfahler Cassaro, 57, passed away peacefully on October 22nd in Jacksonville, Florida, after a long battle with cancer.
Diane was born on Sept. 8, 1968, in Gainesville, FL. She was the daughter of Paul Pfahler, a professor of agronomy at the University of Florida, and Cile Neely Pfahler, a French and Spanish teacher. Her parents filled their home with books, and reading became her lifelong passion.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Classics and her law degree (with honors) from Florida State University. She and her husband moved from Tallahassee to Jacksonville shortly after her graduation, and she settled into establishing a family and her legal career. She worked for several local law firms, most recently Harrell and Harrell, and then Morgan and Morgan as a disability attorney. She was an effective and compassionate advocate, helping more than a thousand people with chronic illnesses obtain their benefits.
Just like her parents, Diane loved to travel, and as a student of British history she made many trips to the UK. She loved London, but felt most at home in Yorkshire or the Isle of Man.
Diane will be remembered for her quick, brilliant mind, and her incredible memory for almost everything she read; you absolutely wanted her on your Trivial Pursuit team. She had a keen sense of humor, usually sprinkled with a touch of sarcasm, and of course was a fan of Monty Python. She loved pets; for almost her entire adult life there was a Manx cat in the house and a Dalmatian (or two!) out in the back yard. She also had a ‘special gift’ ; she could tell when her pets were lonely and it was time to bring home a new companion.
Although she had two degrees from FSU, she was a lifelong Florida Gators fan, and loved going to games both in Gainesville and on the road. She was an active member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, both in college and later as an alum. She loved half-marathons, especially those at Disneyland, and Tough Mudder, an intense obstacle course event. Her toughness showed as she continued to work full-time for more than two years after her initial diagnosis, sometimes in a great deal of pain or barely able to walk.
She is survived by her husband of 35 years, Daniel Cassaro; daughters Theresa, Luciana, and Claudia Cassaro; sisters Beth Radford (Blanton), niece Bridget Radford, and nephew Benjamin Radford.
Her funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28th at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 10472 Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville. The family invites friends, colleagues, and all who knew Diane to attend.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
2 Comments
Deepest sympathies to the family. My son, Doug, was a classmate of Lucie’s. So sorry to hear of your loss.
What a huge loss. Diane and I were friends when we were kids, she was a bright and funny joy, I remember playing Monopoly, reading books, and looking for sharks’ teeth in the creek near the Pfahler house. My folks still have a video of us doing the world’s worst high school English project with Barbie dolls and (I believe) Percy Bysshe Shelley poetry. We lost touch when I moved away for college, though I also became a attorney who liked Monty Python…I wish I’d known. May her memory be a blessing, the way she was to me as the new kid.
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