Anthony Brendan Cashen

Anthony Brendan Cashen was born on October 26, 1935 to James Aloysius Joseph Francis Cashen and Helen Wilhelmina Wittpenn. He spent his early years in Eastchester, NY with his parents, his older brother James A. Cashen, and various other aunts, uncles, and family friends on Highview Avenue. For nine summers and vacations he spent time with his mother’s brother Edward “Pete” Wittpenn and Pete’s wife Maud at their farm in Columbia County, learning farm skills and providing important help to his uncle and aunt. In 1950 his parents bought a farm in Claverack and, in the summer of 1951, he moved there to oversee the farm with the assistance of his uncle William Wittpenn and a housekeeper, attending Hudson High School and graduating with the class of 1953, where he was voted “best looking” and was #43 on the football team.

The following fall he matriculated In the School of Agriculture at Cornell University where he majored in Agricultural Economics, earning a B.S. in 1957 and an M.B.A. in 1958. During his five years at Cornell, he was very active in several honorary societies and the student union, and was President of his fraternity, Delta Upsilon. Upon graduation, he married Jessie Ann MacLeod, Cornell 1958, and they subsequently had three daughters, Ann Elizabeth Cashen, Sara Jean Muoser-Cashen, and Linda Jane Cashen Brousseau. They lived primarily in Scarsdale. Tony and Ann divorced in 1970.

Following graduation from Cornell, Tony worked for several years for the Standard Oil Company in New York and Albany and, in 1961, joined MD Publications for a career in medical marketing. In 1964 he was recruited by fellow Cornell classmate Stephen Weiss to join Weiss, Peck and Greer, later moving to other investment activities with A. G. Becker, Alliance Capital Management, and Donaldson, Lufkin, Jenrette.

In 1972 he married Gail Lautzenheiser Keeler, a Cornell classmate, and moved with her and her three children, Susan, Harper, and Michael Keeler, to Pleasantville, NY. After a successful career in investment management, he fulfilled a desire to run his own company and arranged financing for Elliot Hardwood Company in Tupper Lake, New York in 1974. Tony ran Elliott Hardwood until the late 1970s when interest rates and financing costs became unbearable for a highly leveraged buyout. At that time, he returned to Wall Street as President and equity partner of an executive recruiting firm run by colleagues Dale Flanagan and John Webster. He and his partners grew Flanagan and Webster into a strong partnership with Lamalie Associates, a publicly traded international search firm. He retired from Lamalie in 2000, but continued to do executive search work pro bono for not-for-profit groups in partnership with Nancy Humphries as Executive Search Services (ESS).

In 1985 Tony and Gail moved to the Wittpenn Farm in Austerlitz while Tony commuted to New York City, returning on weekends to tend to the needs of (at different times) a herd of llamas, two pair of Belgian draft horses, a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle, and visiting Belted Galloways, growing hay and entertaining visiting family and friends.

Tony’s devotion to Cornell was evident from his undergraduate days and continued as an active alumnus. He was recognized with the Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award in 2001. He participated as a member of the Cornell Council, worked diligently leading the Alumni Interfraternity Council for many years, and led executive searches for a number of Cornell positions. He was particularly active on behalf of his fraternity, Delta Upsilon, and coached and mentored many young men, remaining in touch with them until the present. Through the years, he offered his advice and counsel as Director to the Columbia County Land Conservancy, the Taconic Telephone Corporation, Vistaprint, the ImmuCell Corporation, and Point 4 Data Corporation while supporting not-for-profit organizations such as Great Camp Sagamore, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and the Austerlitz Historical Society with his expertise.

Tony was predeceased by his parents and his brother Jim. He is survived by his wife Gail; his three children--Ann Cashen (Sead Krcic), Sara Cashen (Tony Muoser), and Linda Cashen (Kevin Brousseau); his three step-children--Susan Keeler, Harper Keeler, and Michael Keeler (Sara); eight grandchildren—Brendan Brousseau, Celia Muoser, Corey Brousseau, David Muoser, Natalie Langham, KC Brousseau, Sam Keeler, and Jackson Keeler; one great grandchild--Jessie Muoser Kline; numerous nieces and nephews and their children; and scores of friends and admirers.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Columbia Land Conservancy, to Cornell University, or to an organization of choice. Final arrangements will be announced at a later date.