Whitney Township pioneer Cassedy Davis dies

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

Nina Cassedy Davis, whether running a Henderson business, helping to develop the Whitney township or just riding through her panoramic Southern Nevada ranch aboard her favorite horse, Buck, embodied the true pioneer spirit of Nevada.

Even in her early 90s she refused to sit still. The fiercely independent family matriarch diligently toiled on her hands and knees in her garden or cheered on the Los Angeles Dodgers as she watched them on TV through failing eyesight.

In addition to staying busy, the one-time teacher believed "there was always time to learn new things," a longtime friend, George Blackwell, said.

"To the end, Nina struggled to learn more and more on a daily basis," Blackwell said.

Cassedy Davis, a descendant of President James Buchanan and owner of the first disposal firm in Henderson, where she also operated an ice company with her first husband, Bill Cassedy, died Wednesday of complications from old age. She was 93.

"Amazingly, my mother never spent a day of her life in a hospital," Pat Cassedy said shortly before Nina's services Monday. He said his mother, a resident of 59 years, was born on a Kansas farm, gave birth to him in her Arizona home and died at his Las Vegas home.

"Her whole life was working -- working all the time," Pat told mourners at the Sun Valley Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Whitney, the township where she served on the original town board, as well as on the sewer and school boards.

Whitney, whose name was once changed to East Las Vegas and then back to Whitney, is located along Boulder Highway between Nellis Boulevard and Russell Road. During the town's formative years, Nina helped bring in the first water and sewer lines, streetlights and paved roads. The first fire station also was established then.

"Nina was a strong lady who helped make Nevada a healthier state," said former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, publisher of the Henderson Home News. "Nina's combination of brains and hard work set an example for all who knew her."

Russ Cassedy, delivering his grandmother's eulogy, said, "she was always loving and pampering us. I had a unique experience growing up herding cattle and riding horses on her ranch."

With her second husband, Ebb Davis, she operated from 1962 to 1990 the largest cattle ranch in Southern Nevada, which spread from Railroad Pass past Searchlight.

Born Nina Baxter on June 25, 1907, in Horton, Kan., she was the eldest of four children of John Baxter and the former Maude Buchanan, a great niece of James Buchanan, who from 1857 to 1861 served as the 15th president of the United States.

Nina rode horses to school and graduated as class valedictorian from Denison High School. A year later, she passed a state teacher certification test and taught eight grades in a one-room Kansas schoolhouse, where she had to light a potbellied stove in the middle of the classroom to keep students warm during winter sessions, Pat said.

"During summer vacations, she went to work at the Fred Harvey Restaurant at the Grand Canyon, where she quickly learned she could make more money as a 'Harvey Girl' waitress, so she gave up teaching after two years," Pat said.

At Harvey's, she met farmer Bill Cassedy, whom she married in December 1926. Soon after, Nina was laid off, which was common for married women during the Depression. The Cassedys moved to Mormon Lake, Ariz., near Flagstaff, where they opened a store that sold goods and gasoline primarily to area loggers.

In 1941 the Cassedys came to Las Vegas and opened the Cassedy Disposal Co., the first to provide garbage pickup service in Henderson. The couple bought a 160-acre ranch near where what is now Boulder Highway and U.S. 95.

They started Cassedy Ice Co., in 1945, serving restaurants, bars, construction firms and homes that utilized ice boxes along Boulder Highway. Bill died in 1946, and Nina continued operating the company until 1962, the year she married Ebb Davis.

They moved to Ebb's cattle ranch and operated it until she retired at age 83. Ebb died three years later in 1993.

As a civic leader, Nina organized dances for adults and youths. She also was the first president of the Whitney Elementary School Parents and Teachers Association.

In addition to her son and grandson, she is survived by a sister, Helen Raab of Phoenix; three granddaughters, Erin Jilka, Robin Ross and Kimberly Cassedy, and nine great-grandchildren.

Burial was in Palm Mortuary-Henderson cemetery. Palm-Mortuary Henderson handled the arrangements.