Submitted by: Dan Rich
April 3, 1908 - July 14, 1996
South Bend Tribune 7/16/1996
George Zigmont Gaska, 88, passed away
at 2:35 a.m., July 14, at Regency Nursing Healthcare, South Bend,
Ind. Mr. Gaska had been ill for the past two years. He was born
in Elkhart, Ind.
He married Mae Gornik on Dec. 7,
1928, in Mishawaka, Ind. She survives, along with a daughter
Joyce Kaniewski. A sister, Louise Baptiste, of
Marco Island, Fla. A son, Jon preceded him in death in 1977. Both
Joyce & Jon were accomplished musicians playing under their
fathers baton and as members of his quartet. Jon made music his
career & performed with many major symphonies & quartets
in the United States and Canada. Mae was the music critic of the
family as well as the manager, hostess & guiding light for
all. Three brothers, Matt, Constantine and Leonard Gaska also
preceded him in death. Survivors include nine grandchildren,
Juliann and Mike Unruh, Joseph and Jeanne Kaniewski, James
and Driadra Gaska, Jerry and Mike Straub, Jeanne and
Edward Voreis, Jill and Jim Ballard, John Charles
Gaska, Michael and Diana Kaniewski and Richard A. Gaska; twenty
great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, three
nephews and four nieces.
Mr. Gaska was a violinist, teacher and
conductor. He taught violin until 1995. He was concert master of
the South Bend Symphony for 12 years. In 1930, he founded the
Gaska String Quartet. Members of the quartet were Mr. Gaska,
Joseph Fischoff, George Eichler and William Kay. He founded the
South Bend-Mishawaka Junior Symphony in 1939, the third of its
kind in the country. Mr. Gaska was concert master of the Fort
Wayne Symphony Orchestra in the 1940's. In 1950 he founded the
Elkhart Symphony Orchestra which he conducted for 30 years,
retiring in 1978. In the early 1940's, Mr. Gaska founded The
Mishawaka Little Symphony Orchestra which existed for one season
due to World War II as many of the members went into the service
of their country. He also founded the Michiana Symphonette, the
first orchestra to perform in the city parks other than band
concerts. Mr. Gaska studied conducting for five summers in
Hancock, Maine, under Maestro Pierre Montieux.
Through the years Mr. Gaska received many
awards and commendations. These included ''The George Award'' in
Mishawaka, the Key to the City of Elkhart, a commendation plaque
from the University of Notre Dame for his contribution to the
musical community. He was inducted into the City of South Bend
Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 1995, as ''Mr. Music of Michiana.''
Mr. Gaska published a book of quartet
arrangements which the Gaska String Quartet has preformed on many
occasions. The String Quartet has been in existence for 27 years
and still preforms with its present members, Patricia McHenry,
Delores Wilson, Nancy Price and Carol Hoffman. Mr. Gaska's
biography was written by Nancy Price and published in 1995, and
is available in all local libraries. Mr. Gaska was a defender of
all forms of life and his love of his wife, family and friends
was his greatest joy.
Memorials services will be held at 11 a.m.,
Wednesday, July 17th, at the Welsheimer Funeral Home on Williams
Street, South Bend, Ind. Contributions may be made to the Heart
Fund of St. Joseph County or the Humane Society.