David H. Gaskill passed into life eternal in the early morning of Sunday, March 19, 2023, at 81 years young.
David was born February 26, 1942. After graduating Kendallville High School in 1960, he graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1965, majoring in journalism and government. He was also a member and road manager of the Singing Hoosiers, Theta Chi social fraternity and Delta Chi journalistic society as well as the Alpha Delta Sigma advertising honorary society.
He married Jane Ellen Burroughs on December 26, 1975 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Together they raised a son and daughter, both Hoosiers born and raised.
He served as Worshipful Master and Treasurer of the Henry H. Culver Lodge and is a past master of the Plymouth Kilwinning Masonic Lodge #149 F & AM and trustee of the Culver Masonic Cemetery. He was also a 33rd Degree Mason and member of the Scottish Rite. He founded and presided over a civic action group of Culver organizations for planning action and development in the 1970s and helped found the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund. He served as Scoutmaster of Boy Scouts Troop 290 and assisted with the first Eagle Scout award in troop history.
From 1965 to 1975 he was employed by Culver Military Academy and Summer Schools, and advised writers, editors and photographers of the award winning student newspaper and yearbooks, edited the Culver Alumnus magazine and served as director of public relations and publications. He served two years as the news bureau and information at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN, where he also marketed a faculty written science notebook series with a weekly circulation of over 600,000 in Midwestern newspapers, appearing in the Indianapolis Star and Columbus Ohio Dispatch and the South Bend Tribune, proving that the faculty could communicate complex scientific principles to a broad audience. He became Marketing Vice President for Moffett Studio and owner of Russell Studio of Chicago from 1977-2007. His studio sent master photographers to families as far south as Naples, FL to Michigan and all points in between including select private schools like the Culver Academies.
He raised AKC registered dogs and Tennessee Walking Horses on the family farm on East Shore Drive in Culver. He was an avid collector of antiques and all things highly collectible. Dave will be remembered as a good, conscientious man who helped people and cared greatly for humanity, animals, the good earth, and all creatures great and small.
He is survived by his wife, children, Jonathan B. (Ali Schultz) Gaskill and Jennifer G. Gaskill, sister, Jeanette (Richard) Esce of Cicero, NY, and grandchildren, Sophia Heath, William J. Gaskill and Maxwell W. Gaskill. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Rebecca Gaskill of Sellersburg, IN.
A time of visitation will be held at the Odom Funeral Home, Culver, on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 1:00 PM with a brief service to follow at 2:30 pm EST. Masonic Rites will be given. Interment will be at Washington Cemetery in Culver.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Plymouth Kilwinning Masonic Lodge #149 F & AM Scholarship Fund or the charity of your choosing.
