Robert D. Gaskill, 95, a longtime Ames resident, passed away on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, at Bethany Manor, the nursing home in Story City where he had been under care for three years. Mr. Gaskill, born in Indianola and raised in Des Moines, was a U.S. Marine pilot in World War II. He had graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in music just before the war began, and he resumed his lifelong career as a musician and music teacher after it was over.

After playing the French horn in professional orchestras and teaching music and conducting bands in public schools and colleges in the Quad Cities; Omaha; Wichita, Kansas; and Des Moines, he moved to Ames shortly after he retired. Here, he continued in music as an occasional substitute teacher in the Ames public schools and as a piano tuner and repairman. He was also prominent in the Kiwanis Club of Ames, having been a member of Kiwanis International since 1964.

In October 1943, while serving as a pilot instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas, he married the former Mary Elizabeth Head of Columbia, Missouri. They subsequently had four children, born between 1944 and 1952, all of whom survive him, as does one grandchild.

A public memorial service will be held at Grandon Funeral and Cremation Care, 414 Lincoln Way, Ames, on Monday, June 24, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. On line condolences may be directed to:
www.grandonfuneralandcremationcare.com