Angelo Andrew "Andy" Cassimus, 90, lost his battle with Alzheimer's in the care of hospice on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. An ever-boisterous presence, he was a serious man who enjoyed the finer things in life, including having fun.

A Pensacola native, Mr. Cassimus was a first generation Greek-American on one side with a modest established Italian immigrant family on the other. As a child, he earned his lifelong family nickname "Pinky" after a bout of poison ivy rash and his subsequent repeated head-to-toe covering in pink calamine lotion.

After graduating from Pensacola High School, he joined the Navy where he served aboard an aircraft carrier and was always grateful that he saw very little "action." On ship, he was afforded the opportunity to travel to the Caribbean, South America, and Asia which helped spur his interest in the humanities. After his tour, he returned home and worked at Monsanto while attending Pensacola Junior College where he graduated with an Associate's Degree. Though he greatly desired to further his education at FSU, a health issue prevented him from doing so, and instead he opened card and stationary store in the then newly built Cordova Mall.

During this period of his young adult life, two life changing moments happened: Mr. Cassimus found out "he had the bug" for antiques when he sold his car in order to purchase a painting, and he met his life partner of over 45 years, Dr. Claude Garrett, Jr., a kind and gentle man originally from Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma who practiced medicine in New Orleans.

Mr. Cassimus moved to New Orleans here he initially worked in D.H. Holmes as a department manager and interior designer, where his talent and skill for design was cultivated. In 1975, he and Claude founded Cass-Garr Antiques on Chartres Street in the French Quarter. His main antique interests were bronzes, carved ivory, European miniatures, and Asian export ceramics, and he was fascinated and delighted by the delicately-detailed craftsmanship of smaller objets d'art. He took great pride in the business and relationships he built, and he greatly valued honest customer service over profit. As a life-long lover of film, his favorite stories concerning his business related to the few times that celebrities visited his shop.

The couple maintained a large home in New Orleans that was well-suited for entertaining their friends and family and that had the space for a large garden which was lovingly designed and tended to by Mr. Cassimus. Mr. Cassimus ran "the shop" until his retirement and the business's post-Katrina closure in 2006, and the pair soon moved back to Pensacola to be close to family. Until Dr. Garrett preceded Mr. Cassimus in death in 2015, the couple kept a routine lifestyle that included regular travel, receiving friends, and constant dining out - a favorite pastime for them both. Mr. Cassimus continued this tradition with almost daily breakfast or lunch outings, especially enjoying the company of his sister Angelina Bohannon, with whom he was very close until she preceded him in death in 2018.

He is survived by his two sisters, Ellen Wallin and Regina Damron as well as his nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and many close friends across the country.

By his request, no services will be held prior to his interment at Holy Cross Cemetery next to his mother, Regina Cassimus. In lieu of attendance to a memorial, please consider making a donation in his memory to Emerald Coast Hospice, 5111 N 12th Ave Ste B, or emeraldcoasthopsice.org