In his time, the company oversaw the installation of two mobile container cranes at a cost of $40 million and the $16 million Cassidy Quay development.
He was at the helm in 1997 when the new quay was opened by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, and when in the New Year Honours he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to "transport communication," which also recognised his role establishing a radio network for trucks on the highways through Hawke's Bay.
Family firm Cassidy Transport was started by Clive Cassidy in 1928, seven years before Garth Cassidy was born.
He took the reins in 1965 following the untimely deaths of his father and brother Clive junior and the business grew into one of 30 truck-and-trailer units serving CHB, with the business ultimately sold in 1985.
It was during the 1960s that he and fellow carriers Neil and Peter Irvine met the need for communications between the fleets by establishing Rangitoto Radio, setting up three elevated sites for transmitters to provide a radio-telephone service covering the area from Napier to Wairarapa and west into Manawatu and which still exists.
In 1983 he started a Hastings depot in conjunction with Lion Breweries, as a storage hub for transportation of beer throughout the North Island.
He seemed a natural leader, being instrumental in improving roading in his district as a county councillor and on district roads committees.
The sale of the business set him off on new pursuits in the industry. Having continued as a field office for the Central Area Road Transport Association, he was made a life member in 1996, and he was then made a life member of the New Zealand Road Transport Association in 1999, when he was also awarded Chartered Institute of Transport's Norman Spencer Medal, for his contribution to transport.
He was awarded life membership of the institute in 2014.
He was also a life member of the Waipukurau HSOB rugby club, which became a part of the Central Rugby and Sports Club when it was established at the start of 1994.
He was also a patron of the Spirit of Adventure Trust.
One of his great loves was the coast and sea at Pourerere, and he was instrumental in establishing a marine reserve at Aramoana.
He also had two sisters (Girvan and Valda) and was thus the youngest of four children of Clive Cassidy and wife Hazel (nee Robertson).
He and wife Barbie (nee Liddle) married at St Peter's Church, Waipawa, on March 1, 1962, the couple becoming regarded as a phenomenal team contributing to local initiatives in accord with his own belief: "Make a difference."
He died at Pourerere, which he had come to love at a young age after his parents set up a cottage, and where he helped establish the Pourerere Beach Improvement Association, and Te Angi Angi Marine Reserve, and where he and Barbie bought a cottage next door to that established by his parents.
He is survived by Barbie, children Kirsty, Kim, Michael and Miranda, and grandchildren Wynn, Matt, Fox, Maia, Manannan, and Hana.
