John Cassimus Memorial Endowed Scholarship

This endowed scholarship was established to honor the life of John S. Cassimus. John Samuel Cassimus was 11 years old when he moved from his native Greece to a new home in an exciting land filled with new friends, new ideas and new opportunities. Cassimus eventually settled in Florence, Ala., where he and his beautiful American bride, Gertrude Coffman Cassimus, opened what would become a cultural phenomenon on Huntsville Road in the Weeden Heights community on the east side of town. For more than 50 years, Cassimus Café and Grocery became a gathering place for loyal patrons from all walks of life. A typical lunch hour crowd might include everyone from politicians like Congressman Ronnie Flippo and former Gov. “Big Jim’’ Folsom to country singer George Jones, the Eagles’ Glenn Frey and members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. “He always called it ‘The Store,’ and it was an institution,” according to Pat Pace of Muscle Shoals, the youngest of three Cassimus daughters who grew up working side-by-side in their parents’ café. “People loved his hamburger steaks, his chili, his stew and especially his half-and-half which was chili and stew mixed together. That became one of his signature dishes. I run into people every day who say they miss ‘The Store.’ They miss the food and the atmosphere,but they also miss my daddy – the man they called “Mr. John.”’
Recipients of this scholarship shall be full-time students in the College of Education with a minimum 3.0 GPA and preference given to a student who is a resident of the Weeden Heights Community. If none, then the award is to be made to a student in the Culinary Arts Program.