Family and friends mourn Dorothy Casserly

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Local woman was a pioneering journalist in Minnesota

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

Dorothy CasserlyDorothy Casserly died on Sept. 25 at the age of 89. By anyone’s measure, she lived a full and satisfying life. And as granddaughter Janie Goodson reflected, ”She opened doors for so many women who came after her.”

Casserly lived in the Nokomis neighborhood for more than 65 years. She and her husband raised six children there, and all the kids attended neighborhood schools. Casserly herself was a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Class of ’45. She had what very few women had at that time: a bachelor’s degree from the School of Journalism and a strong will to succeed as a writer.

The field of journalism was entirely dominated by men in the 1940’s. In her first job out of college, Casserly went to work for the Faribault Daily News as “society editor.”

She described her duties there in a 1991 issue of the Eagan Chronicle saying, “I reported the social news of the town including long, descriptive accounts of weddings, and who poured at ‘teas.’ I wrote all the church news and the obituaries and, as the only woman in the newsroom, I was expected to answer the telephone.”

“After Faribault,” she continued, “I worked as a copy editor and in public relations, but the printer’s ink prevailed again, and I married a newspaper man. Then came many years of caring for our children, with occasional freelance writing assignments.”

Son Charlie Casserly described what it was like growing up in their family of eight.“Language was always very important to us,” he said. “We were allowed to read at the table at breakfast and lunch, but not at dinner.”

“By the time we were all teenagers,” Charlie explained, “Mom had returned to writing for the Belle Plaine Herald, the newspaper her grandfather founded two generations before. She commuted to Belle Plaine early in the week and stayed over for a day or two until all her assignments were done.”

Acknowledging that there weren’t many women working outside the home at that time, granddaughter Erin Goodson said, “I’m thankful to have had a grandmother who was the best example of a strong, independent woman.”

Casserly wrote for several newspapers in the metro area, including the Longfellow Nokomis Messenger. Over the course of her long career, she received awards of distinction from the MN Newspaper Association, the MN Women’s Press and the MN Education Association.

From the beginning, Casserly’s was an encouraging voice for women in journalism. That message was experienced first-hand by her children and grandchildren and viewed with admiration by her colleagues, professional acquaintances, and many dedicated readers.

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