Frank Shepard Midgley

Frank Shepard Midgley III, also known as Cass, was the long-awaited son born to Frank and Dorothy Midgley on March 6, 1966, in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He joined his sisters, Maggi, Mary, and Carol and numerous family members that loved him dearly. 

He attended school in Newkirk, Oklahoma, graduating in 1984. Cass was active in basketball and band. He was an extrovert with a fun sense of humor and always had a lively group of friends. A natural entertainer, he delighted in making others laugh. Even at an early age, he had an active mind, both a challenge and a joy for many of his teachers. If left idle, he would begin to drum his fingers on anything nearby. He developed an immense love for percussion, specifically drums, and perfected that talent through his high school years, sometimes to the chagrin of his family and neighbors. Cass earned many statewide accolades and at age 16, traveled to Europe with America’s Youth in Concert. He went on to pursue a career in Nashville as a professional drummer and played with many bands and well-known artists. 

Cass graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Finance. He married his high school sweetheart, Mindi Goad, in 1988, in Newkirk. They moved to Nashville for several years and returned to Newkirk after the birth of their first child, Lydia. Soon after that, came Bethany, Rachel, and John. Cass was so enamored with his beautiful family of six; he found the role of father his most important calling. He was an incredibly involved dad, reading to them, singing with them, making silly faces, and always a camcorder on his shoulder, recording their every move. As they grew older, they enjoyed long hikes together and game nights. He was an avid viewer of movies and television, hashing through the deeper meanings with friends and family. 

As a teenager, Cass had a fervor for Jesus Christ and wanted to share that zeal with the world. He began songwriting and a couple of his songs were well-known in the Christian music industry. Cass had a rich voice and lead many churches in praise and worship. He and Mindi founded a youth ministry in Newkirk, High Impact, where he shared his love of Christ with youth from all over the county. They were a dynamic duo and this ministry was their passion for many years. He had a heart for and a deep understanding for youth. Cass had an intensity for life and whatever he was doing, he did it with full magnitude. He was proficient in technology and worked as a software and hardware technician for Dell and Gateway. He also worked as a financial advisor and spent a few years in education. A prolific writer and speaker, Cass had a powerful charisma and a command of language, sometimes to a fault. His hobbies were writing poetry and mastering crossword puzzles. 

 In 2005, the family moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Cass received a master’s degree in theological studies at Vanderbilt University. His belief system was challenged, and he wanted to help others find their truth, as well as his own; honesty and authenticity were vital to his existence. Through his yearning for provocative conversations, Cass found his voice and a podium by co-hosting a podcast entitled Everyone’s Agnostic, forming many close and lasting friendships and alliances through that venue. At the time of his death, he was self-employed with Tennessee QRDOs Services, splitting 401K accounts for divorce attorneys. 

Cass was on a continual journey to find peace within himself and the world around him. He was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which came as a comforting revelation to him, a greater insight into his conscience. We have hope that he found the tranquility he was craving when he left this earth on Monday, February 26^th, 2024. May those he left behind find solace and understanding in the face of this heartbreaking tragedy.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, George and Lula Dearing, Frank Midgley, Sr. and wife Jessie; his father, Frank Midgley, Jr., and his father-in-law, Bud Goad. Cass is survived by Mindi Midgley, of Murfreesboro, TN; daughter, Lydia Midgley, of Tulsa; Bethany Midgley, of Nashville; Rachel Midgley, of Murfreesboro, and John Midgley, of Murfreesboro. Also surviving him is his mother, Dorothy Midgley; Maggi (Reagan) Hutchason, of Newkirk; Mary (Steve) Austin, of Ponca City, Oklahoma; Carol (Rick) Scott, of Ponca City. Mother-in-law, Trudy (Jack) Bagg, of Newkirk; and many nieces, nephews, and in-laws that are broken-hearted over his early departure. Statistics say that one in five adults suffer from mental health issues. The family suggests contributions to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), as a way to honor Cass's memory and raise awareness about the challenges faced by those silently battling within. CassMidgley's fundraising page for NAMI . A celebration of life will be held in Newkirk this summer at a time to be announced.

You Are Not Your Thoughts 

You are not your thoughts 

No more than dalmatians 

Are their spots 

Your individuation 

Apart from their sway 

Can discern what's true 

You don't have to obey

What they tell you to do 

Can we just admit 

We're tied up in knots 

When our will can't split 

Apart from our thoughts 

They derive not from us 

Who knows where they're from 

But we claim them and thus 

We march to their drum 

Taking orders from them 

As if they own us 

They wreak mayhem 

And bring out our lowness 

Tame your notions

Only you run your ship 

They arouse emotions 

Til you crack your whip 

Now you've been to the college 

Of how the mind functions 

And with this new knowledge

You can cease to malfunction 

We're no longer shocked  

At what the mind is able 

To wildly concoct 

When it's all on the table 

Just look at your dreams 

A theater of the absurd 

Unconscious streams

There are no words 

To describe the insurmountable

Or where they're from  

We're only accountable 

If we act on them 

As long as we shame 

The passive recipient 

We misplace the blame 

And no longer represent 

A fair and impartial 

Jury of their peers 

Who made me marshall?

It's not what it appears 

We can all go feudal 

On these mental imps 

From the part of our noodle 

We got from the chimps 

But when someone caves 

And does a thing they hate 

Remember we're not slaves 

To thoughts we didn't create 

Cass Midgley