The family would like to offer their sincerest thanks for all those that were able to attend Cassie’s celebration of life yesterday. The turnout was incredible and it truly showed the community impact our beloved Cassie had. We understand that we were not able to speak to everyone yesterday, but we appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that have continually been passed to our family. The donations and flowers were also extraordinarily generous.
For all those that were unable to attend, rest assured, your presence was still felt, as we were able to relive so many beautiful memories.
The family would also like to thank their family and closest friends that were behind the scenes setting up, planning, and cleaning up the event.
As a reminder, Cassie’s Celebration of life will take place at the Marathon Center for Performing Arts located at 200 W. Main Cross St., Findlay, OH 45840. The celebration of life will be an open house from 2-4 PM EST. Visitors may come and go as they please. There will not be a service during this time, and instead the celebration of life will be a chance for Cassie’s community to reconnect, share their favorite memories, and pass on their condolences to the family.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made below to the VB Educational Foundation or St. Marks United Methodist Church of Findlay.
St. Marks United Methodist Church: (Include Cassie’s Name or Checks can be made out to St. Marks United Methodist Church 800 S. Main St. Findlay, Oh 45840)
Cassandra Elizabeth “Cassie” (Cole) Ohlrich, 54, of Findlay, Ohio, passed away peacefully on July 19, 2025 due to medical complications from heart surgery.
Born on June 25, 1971, in Worms, Germany, she was the daughter of Jackie Cole and the late James Cole. Married May 28,1994 to Kurt Robert Ohlrich. Cassie’s life was marked by a deep commitment to family, faith, education and community.
Cassie will be profoundly missed by her beloved husband of 31 years, Kurt Robert Ohlrich; their sons, Cole Robert Ohlrich (Brianne) and Connor James Ohlrich; her mother, Jackie Cole; grandmother, Willie Mae Guillory; and brother, Jace Cole (Peter). She also leaves behind her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Robert and Jene Ohlrich, along with many cherished family members and loyal friends. She was preceded in death by her father, James Cole.
Cassie was a devoted Christian who found strength and fellowship through her Bible study group. Her faith guided her actions and brought comfort throughout her life.
A graduate of Kent State University, she dedicated three decades to shaping young minds as an educator with Van Buren Schools. Over her 30-year career, she served as a Gifted/STEM educator, inspiring countless students with her passion for learning and innovation.
Cassie’s impact extended far beyond the classroom. She coached golf for 15 years at both Arcadia and Van Buren schools, nurturing not only athletic skill but also sportsmanship and perseverance in her players. Her love for the game was matched by her enthusiasm for tennis, pickle ball and family game night—activities that reflected her competitive spirit and zest for life.
A visionary leader within her school community, Cassie founded the Van Buren Schools Foundation Education Fund, Medieval Garden and Knight’s Fest. These initiatives stand as a legacy to her dedication to enriching student experiences and supporting educational excellence.
Cassie’s joy in planning parties and trips brought people together in celebration and connection—hallmarks of how she lived each day with intention and heart.
Family and friends will honor Cassie in an Open House Celebration of Life on Saturday, August 2, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts, 200 West Main Cross Street, Findlay, Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made below to the VB Educational Foundation or St. Marks United Methodist Church of Findlay.
St. Marks United Methodist Church: (Include Cassie’s Name or Checks can be made out to St. Marks United Methodist Church 800 S. Main St. Findlay, Oh 45840)
It is with a heavy heart that today we will be writing one of our last blog posts on Cassie’s Journey. Cassie peacefully passed today at 2:57 AM. Unfortunately the infection that was found in her respiratory system made its way into her brain and created a large mass pushing on the left frontal lobe. The medical staff could have performed an emergency brain surgery, with a low chance of success. The best case scenario would have been a surgery that resulted in frontal lobe damage, which would have affected her personality, memories, and right side mobility. She was surrounded by her family throughout all of Friday, and was showered with love.
We would like to sincerely thank you all for following her journey and constantly showering her and the family with love, prayers, and support. We ask that you please give the family time to recover and grieve the loss of a truly special individual. We will post service details on this page at a later time.
Since last update, Cassie has had a tough couple of days. Starting late Friday – Cassie developed fatigue, lethargy and difficulty maintaining awake for longer than 1-2 hours. She is able to be aroused and passes all staff neurologic checks but she has not had her usual bright personality and energy level. The staff did find that her mucus cultures showed signs of an infection. They are continuing to review all the other cultures taken, but are adjusting her antibiotics to fight off this infection.
Over the weekend she was able to have a solid Hemodialysis session, drawing over 1.5 Liters of excess fluid off of her body. She however continues to battle hypotension (low blood pressure) at times limiting hemodialysis performance.
On Sunday and Monday morning she was able to perform a 20 minute edge of bed exercise session with PT/OT working on her hand, arm, trunk and head strength. They even were able to begin stretching and light exercising of her residual limbs.
Cassie and her family were able to watch Pastor Dan Metzger’s lovely sermon recorded this afternoon. We continue to feel very blessed for the prayers, well wishes and support we have had as we continue to lean into our faith during this trying time.
Cassie continues to march forward in her recovery journey. She has been continuing to work with PT / OT daily. The focus remains to get her on the side of the bed and perform limb and trunk strengthening exercises. Her arm and hand strength has increased dramatically over the past few weeks. She now has the ability to pick up both hands and wave, as well as press the call button for a nurse when she needs support.
Cassie continues to breathe on room air throughout the day. She is consistently reaching the 12-14 hour mark, even making it to 16 hours in a day. The next big hurdle for her breathing is to be confident enough to breathe on room air while she sleeps.
She has also been working with Speech Therapy, with the goal to increase her mouth and throat strength helping her get back to talking and eating.
The team continues to schedule sunshine therapy sessions for Cassie, and have made an emphasis to get her outside even more this week. As many of you know, Cassie loves nothing more than soaking up some sun rays while being surrounded by her family.
Each and every day, Cassie continues to wake up with a smile and a “can-do” attitude. She is always looking to beat her previous goals, and advance her rehabilitation as much as her body allows. This tenacious and optimistic mindset push her through each and every obstacle in the road ahead.
Over the holiday weekend, Cassie continued to show encouraging signs of progress in her recovery. She was able to get outside twice to enjoy some fresh air and soak up the summer sun—her favorite season—which lifted her spirits and brought a peaceful change of pace to her days. She’s been spending between 8 to 12 hours a day on room air, depending on mucus secretions, showing improvement in her respiratory strength. Speech therapy has ramped up with more intensive diaphragm and swallowing exercises, and her voice through the speaking valve is becoming noticeably stronger—strong enough to keep her boys in check.
PT and OT visit daily, focusing on seated edge-of-bed work to rebuild her core, trunk, and upper body strength. They’ve also begun light knee strengthening exercises on both residual limbs. Cassie continues daily prolonged dialysis for fluid offload, and although some fluid is pooling in her chest area, the team is monitoring closely and has not noted any major concerns at this time.
Cassie approaches every day with determination and a relentless mindset. She is endlessly thankful for the continued prayers, messages, and support—it all plays a vital role in helping her push toward better and brighter days ahead.
Cassie continues to push for progress day after day. She’s now spending 10–12 hours a day on room air—a significant step forward in her recovery, even as she works through challenges with fully expelling air.
She remains on daily renal therapy for fluid offload, and speech therapy has resumed to help her regain strength in speaking and swallowing. Physical and occupational therapy are also in full swing, focusing on hand coordination and trunk strength.
Cassie’s highlight of the day, a well-deserved 40 minutes outside in the sunshine soaking up all the rays she can get.
Cassie and her family wish you all a happy Independence Day weekend! Please continue to send love and support as she navigates her journey back home. Best of luck to those in the upcoming Rose Lake boat parade, Cassie looks forward to the pictures of all the decorated boats.
Since her surgery on Thursday, Cassie has been in full recovery mode. Her pain and chest incision are being well managed, allowing her to begin focusing on regaining strength and mobility. Over the weekend, she had a couple of encouraging sessions with physical and occupational therapy, even sitting up at the edge of the bed for about 20 minutes—an important step in rebuilding her core and upper body strength.
She has also resumed her trache mask trials, breathing on room air, as she works to strengthen her lungs and return to full respiratory capacity. While she continues to require overnight continuous dialysis to support fluid removal, her care team is closely monitoring her progress, and every small step forward is a meaningful one.
Cassie celebrated her birthday yesterday showered with love and birthday wishes from friends, family and the hospital staff.
Cassie underwent a procedure this morning focused on chest closure after clearing up the prior chest infection. The surgeon performed a cutting edge technique to salvage all muscle and utilize a superficial lining in the stomach (Greater Omentum) with a steel plate to securely approximate her chest wound. They removed the greater omentum through her abdomen and placed it over top the chest plate before closing her chest. The surgeons were very pleased with the work and stated that everything went according to plan.
Over the past week Cassie remained on daily night time dialysis and increased ventilatory support to maintain proper internal values before surgery. Over the past two days, she was able to spend some time on room air and speak with the family.
PT/OT were limited over the past week in order to allow her body to rest and fight off the infection. However, they continue to work her hands, elbow and shoulders to regain her function.
Through it all, she keeps fighting — not just for herself, but for all of us who love her: family, friends, prayer warriors, and anyone who has cheered her on. This past weekend, she even rallied enough strength to play euchre with her husband and two sons.
