Constance Whaley Fassett

If you stop to look up the meaning of "Legend" in the dictionary, you are sure to find the picture and biography of one Constance "Connie" Whaley Fassett. The legendary Bel Air High School teacher and coach peacefully passed away June 10, 2026, following a brief illness. She was 92.

Born in Easton Memorial Hospital on September 11, 1933, Connie, the youngest of Ralph Lee and Sara Frances (nee Stevens) Whaley's five children, spent her formative years on the sprawling Queenstown-based and family-owned Cedardale Farm, located smack dab in the middle of Maryland's bucolic Eastern Shore.

She shared a 50-year marriage with her late husband, Albert Donald Fassett, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 99.

Connie was a 1951 graduate of Centreville High School, where she was a multi-sport athlete for the Panthers. She was a crack shot on the basketball court and a stalwart catcher on the softball diamond.

After a year at Western Maryland College, Connie finished her undergraduate studies closer to home at Washington College in Chestertown. While there, Connie continued to display her athletic prowess. A member of the class of 1955, she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history, paired with teaching credentials.

She left her beloved Eastern Shore and headed to Harford County, where she started teaching Core at Bel Air Junior High School in the fall of 1955, never looking back. In those early years, Connie was also tapped to teach math and physical education classes. At the end of her career, teaching world history and psychology was her forte.

She met her future husband in 1963 on a school bus. Connie was the cheerleading coach and Don was the J.V. boys' basketball coach. They were on their way to an away game, and he shared a seat with her. The rest, as they say, was history. In later years, Connie and Don were both inducted in The Harford County Educators Hall of Fame.

Connie's coaching talent was first shown in 1964, when she piloted the Bobcats' varsity field hockey squad to an undefeated season, that saw them not giving up a goal to an opponent.

Connie took the helm of Bel Air's varsity softball team in 1976. Her "dream team" went on to garner three straight state softball championships, while posting a 52-0 record from 1976 to 1978.

In 1979, Fassett was named Softball Coach of the Year for District Two of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, which earned her a trip to Florida.

The county seat school enlisted Connie's coaching expertise to head the girls' varsity volleyball program in 1977. Under Fassett, the Bobcats posted a double-digit amount of county titles, while also notching two regional crowns. Connie retired from teaching in 1986, following 31 years of service, all at BAHS. She continued to coach volleyball and post winning seasons for nine more years.

Connie was an avid local sports fan, following the Orioles, the Ravens and University of Maryland sports closely. A soft-hearted animal lover, in earlier years, Connie loved to garden, was a league bowler, and enjoyed steamed crabs, a good rare steak, scratch-off lottery tickets and an occasional trip to a casino or racetrack.

In addition to her parents and husband, Connie was preceded in death by her four siblings, sisters Sara Elinor Towers and Mary Ethel Whaley Comegys, and brothers John Lee "Jack" Whaley and Ralph Carvel "Buck" Whaley.

She is survived by sister-in-law Barbara Whaley, along with many nieces and nephews.

Many thanks go out to her pair of loyal, dedicated caregivers, both former BAHS student/ athletes under Connie's tutelage, Lisa Silhan and Vickie Panos. Both were at her bedside, holding her hands, when she passed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Connie's name to the Humane Society of Harford County ( 2208 Connolly Road, Fallston, Maryland 21047) and The Hero Rescue in Jarrettsville (https://checkout.shelterluv.com/donate/HRMD). Officiating will be Rev. Richard Weih, from Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air. Serving as pallbearers will be Chris Tolliver, Scott Tolliver, Michael Quigg, David Quigg, Jacob Quigg and Andrew Towers.