Debbie Heath (Wansha)

John and I liked Earl.  But, I want to say:  I like Earl!  We had a wonderful and relaxed conversation at our IHS class reunion, and I was looking forward to that this year!    I do wish that some of the things mentioned, that you don't really bring up in converstation were known... like being republican, or your faith. One of my friends told me there are so many life-stories of friends... but now these friends have just seemed to vanish... Well, I will now picture Earl embraced with God and a sweet smile on both of their faces.   Deborahlyn M. (Heath) Wansha

Michael Snyder

Earl and I hung out quite a bit in high school. We went to basketball games, listened to music, drank beer, etc. We would hang out in the basement of his house with other friends. He never had a bad thing to say about anyone. We continued to get together in college since I was not that far from him.. A couple items in particular I remember: the cookouts in Durand Eastman and bringing the Rhea’s that Steve had to a farm. On that ride these birds messed all over Steve’s lap and smelled up Earl’s car. I was lucky to call Earl a friend.

Robert Connors

My deepest sympathies to Steve and the extended Cassorla family.  Earl was a good friend in high school and we attended many of the same advanced math and sciences classes. I hung out with him more often in our senior year, and recall going into Durand Eastman park to party.

The summer of 1974, Earl travelled to RPI for college and I enrolled at SUNY Albany.  Several times I rode my bike from Albany to Troy, NY to see him and pull some pranks.  I can recall one where he had rigged a can of shaving cream on long pole and knocked on a dorm window from the outside.  When the student opened the window he/she was in for a surprise. 

Earl also claimed to have hung a desk out a window in an RPI dorm that was connected by a rope to an internal door knob.  He then said he had removed the hinges from the door so that it was held only by its latch, and when the student opened the door from the outside, the door flew towards the window due to the weight of the desk.  (I never saw that one, so I can't validate it is true). 

I can attest to Earl's "re-engineering" of a public phone so we could make free calls to time and temperature in Alaska, and someone in Paris, France.  I convinced him to drop some money back in the box after that antic.  He had learned this skill in high school after writing Ma Bell and convincing them to send him detailed engineering diagrams of the public phone hardware.  One day he was called to the Principle's office where phone company investigators asked him why he needed the engineering diagrams, and he told them he was performing a science fair project.

Of course, none of these pranks were on par with the one he pulled on the last day of high school...which involved re-wiring the PA system so he could control it to play in each classroom, except the Principle's Office.  How he got into the school at night is a separate story in itself.  There was a loud bang outside of Dean Glascow's office (I presume it was fire crackers), followed by an announcement:  "This is James Friedman of the Civil Defense....there has been a small explosion in the boiler room...please evacuate the building." 

In any event, I was glad to see that Earl channeled his passion for explosions into a legitimate and successful business, Roller Coaster Fireworks, in Battle Mountain, Nevada.  (See:  Boomtown Video at http://www.cassorla.com) 

In summary, Earl was one of a kind.  He left us too early.  He always put a smile on my face, and I can never recall laughing louder at some of his antics.  At the same time, he was very intellectual and well educated, and I respected his ability to turn his dreams into reality. 

I last saw him at the 40th IHS high school reunion, where he gave me some free samples of his Roller Coaster fireworks products, which I tested legally in VA.  (I also heard that he also ignited some of those fireworks at Silk O'Laughlins and the Irondequoit Police had responded, looking for some young kids who were causing trouble.).  Earl invited me to stop by his store anytime.  A few years later I was in Las Vegas at a convention, and sincerely thought about driving to Battle Mountain, but did not.  I sincerely regret that decision not to visit him again.  I was also hoping that he would show up at this year's 45th reunion so I could continue our friendship in person.  I can only wonder what jokes he has up his sleeve in heaven.

Grant Kessler

Earl was a friend of mine since first grade. I have Spoken to him and Steve monthly or yearly over the last several decades. He came to visit me and my family while I was working in Vienna, Austria. We attended the Vienna Stats Opera, standing room. Along with fireworks manufacturers and distributors in Eastern Europe and concentration camps in Aushwitz. Many discussions about those trips, good and bad. He interacted with my children and they were saddened by his death. The High School stories are endless. Earl was a folk hero among his fellow students and will remain in our memories forever. I'm sorry that you were taken from us so soon. I know that there were several decades of future Earl stories that we have been robbed of. Rest in peace Earl.