Sidney Casden, 92

World War II veteran and longtime Five Towns resident Sidney Casden died on Jan. 12 at his Ormond Beach, Fla. home at 92.

Casden, born in Brooklyn on July 29, 1921 to the former Beatrice Yanofsky and Herman Joseph (Cohen) Casden, like so many men of his generation dutifully enlisted in the military on Dec. 8, 1941. One day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

He served in the U.S. Air Corps, attained the rank of 1st lieutenant and was awarded the Purple Heart. During a bombing mission in 1943, his B-17 was shot down over Nazi-occupied France. Casden parachuted to safety and lived with the French resistance for nine months. One night he was able to slip across the English Channel and eventually returned to the U.S. in 1944.

After the war, Casden settled in Woodmere and raised his two daughters, Terri and Suzanne. He was the managing partner of R.C.S. Inc., a successful clothes manufacturer in New York City’s garment district. Casden met his wife, Catherine H. Casden, through work as she was a clothing buyer. Married for 43 years they retired to Ormond Beach in the early 1970s.

In addition to his wife, Sidney is survived by his daughter Suzanne Teller Casden and her husband, Dr. Raffaele Borriello, his grandson Jared and his fiancé Rena; his grandson Bradley and his fiancé Rachel; his sister, Anita Siegel, his stepson Kevin Kelley, Kevin’s children Alex and Liam, Kevin’s wife, Karen Amirault; and her son Sid. His daughter, Terri Diane Casden-Thompson, and his brother, Harold Casden, predeceased him.

A viewing was held at Perry’s Funeral Home in Lynbrook on Jan. 18. Graveside services were held on Jan. 19. He was interred next to his father at Riverside Cemetery in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.

Sidney will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.