Gaass, Peter G. 1917-2002

GAASS, SCHOLTE, GOODELL

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 8/5/2005 at 21:57:14

PELLA - Peter G. Gaass, 84, of Pella, died Monday, May 6, at Pella Regional Health Center.

His memorial service will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Second Reformed Church in Pella, the Revs. Steve and Sophie Mathonnet-Vander Well officiating. Private burial: Oakwood Cemetery, Pella. Memorials: Hospice of Pella, Central College or Second Reformed Church in Pella. Visiting hours at Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home are open this afternoon and continue all day Friday, with family present 6:30-8 p.m. Friday.

Peter George Gaass was born Aug. 28, 1917, in what was Phi Delta Tau House at Central College, to George Gerard and Elizabeth (Bess) H. Scholte Gaass, a descendant of the first settlers of Pella in 1847. He attended Webster Elementary and Pella High School, where he was on the basketball, tennis and track teams. He graduated from Central College in 1939; his main course of study was history, and he was active in basketball and tennis. He attended the University of Iowa Law School in Iowa City and was licensed to practice law on Oct. 1, 1941. He was inducted into the United States Army that year.

On March 19, 1943, he married Norma Lucille Goodell in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was stationed. He moved around the U.S. with the Army Air Corps and was discharged as a captain.

He returned to Pella and began his law practice in 1946 as his father's partner. His father died in 1962, and Peter continued the practice until 1963, when he formed a partnership with Andrew William Klyn. In 1967 Boyd Boehlje joined the firm, and Vincent S. Klyn joined in 1977. Peter retired from his law practice in 2000. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Iowa State Bar Association where he served on the Board of Governors and the Probate Committee, the Marion County Bar Association, and Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity.

He was on the Central College Board of Trustees 1957 to 2002, was chair from 1972 to 1990, honorary member from 1990 to 1998 and member emeritus from 1998 to 2002. He was Central College's attorney and represented Central for many years in the National Association of College and University Attorneys. He was Pella city attorney for several years. He was a past president and member of the executive board of Pella Historical Society, and a member of Scholte House Committee. He had been on the Pella Golf and Country Club Board, the Pella Cemetery Board and the Marion County Bank board. He was a member of Pella Kiwanis and the American Legion. For many years he was a member of Second Reformed Church in Pella, where he served on the consistory.

He enjoyed traveling, as well as watching and playing sports. He enjoyed golf and attended Central football games. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Central in 1990, and received the first Fellowship of Service Award from Central. In 1999, he received a Tulip Time Steering Committee Appreciation Award.

He is survived by his wife, Norma; three daughters, a son and spouses: Pamela Kay and Kenneth Robus of Eddyville, Janis Norine and James Patton of Cedar Rapids, Karen Ilene Gaass of Denver, Colo., and David Peter and Dawn Bonte Gaass of Denver, Colo.; 10 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; a nephew, George Jochem Hettinga; and a cousin.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Leonora Gerarda Gaass Van Dellen Hettinga, Pella's first Tulip Time queen in 1936; and a niece, Bess Alayne Van Dellen.

The Oskaloosa Herald, May 10, 2002