By Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 28, 2025
Cassian Aspinall, a former proofreader for Amandala who also had an outstanding career as an educator, peacefully passed away at the age of 92 in his home on Partridge Street, now Amandala Drive, in the early hours of Saturday, August 23.
Aspinall was a long-term resident of the area and lived directly across from the Zinc Fence (the compound on which the Kremandala enterprises are located) with his wife, Geraldine, to whom he had been married for 66 years. The couple shared three children (Sharon, Carol and Cassian, Jr.) and had several grandchildren.
According to Aspinall’s family, he had not been suffering from any chronic long-term condition; however, in his final days, Aspinall was struck with Dengue, which prevented him from consuming any solid meals until his death.
Aspinall, prior to his retirement, had been a well-respected educator at institutions affiliated with the Methodist Church for almost five decades. From 1950 to 1988—a period of thirty-eight years—he taught at the primary level in communities such as those in the Sittee River, Gales Point and Zian Park areas, as well as at Ebenezer and Wesley schools in Belize City.
In the period 1988-1998, he transitioned to the secondary level at Wesley College, where he taught literature, history, social studies, geography, and religion.
Aspinall also participated in the broadcast program, Education in Action, which was aired on Radio Belize from 1976-77. Aspinall was additionally one of the pioneers in the development of the Curriculum Development Unit for the Ministry of Education.
After his retirement as an educator, he returned to the neighborhood and was employed with Amandala newspaper as a proofreader for some years, until his final retirement.
Aside from his educational forays, Aspinall was a man of God, and served as a lay minister for the Methodist Church, in addition to being a volunteer who worked with school children to enhance their literacy, and assisted standard-six students of St. Luke Methodist School on Mahogany Street with preparations for the social studies section of the PSE exam.
He was a skilled guitar and harmonica player.
On Monday, the editor of the Amandala stated, “We got the news mid-morning on Saturday that a Belizean elder, maestro, original UBADer, and an uplifting spirit and friend to people of good hearts from all walks of life—Mr. Cassian Aspinall—had passed from this life earlier that Saturday morning. A fixture as part of the Amandala staff for a number of years after his retirement from teaching, Brother Cash was always a pleasure to converse with. Those conversations, though always spiced with the wisdom of experience, couldn’t last for a few minutes without him making those around him laugh. There was always humor and a positive side in his outlook on life, and, master story teller that he was, he could find some fun in the most notorious of characters that he had encountered in his long and illustrious life.
Our sincere condolences from all of the Kremandala staff to his wife, Miss Cherry, and his children and his other relatives and friends. Gone ahead is our friend forever. Rest in peace and dignity, Brother Cassian Aspinall!” Funeral service is expected to be held at Wesley Methodist Church on Saturday, August 30, at 10:00 a.m.
