Remembering Bob Gauss
A memorial service for Robert F. Gauss
was held May 25, 2000, at the Emmetsburg Incarnation
United Church of Christ. The Rev. Margaret Dodds
officiated.
The Rev. Dodds began: "As pastor
of Incarnation United Church of Christ, I welcome you
this morning, family and friends of Robert Gauss. We
come as citizens of Emmitsburg, recognizing the loss to
our community of this hard-working, faithful, good man.
We come because at the time of death there is a strong
and wise feeling that God’s healing touch can come to
us most powerfully, when we expand the circle of our own
immediate family to include the wider community of those
who knew and cared for our loved one. We can come
together to recognize the pain and sorrow and deep
emotion that death’s separation brings. We can come
together with music and prayer and words of remembrance,
and in this quiet place, where worship has brought
together the faithful over so many generations, we trust
that we will find peace. We come in trust that the
joining together of so many memories will mark a fitting
tribute to this one whose life we celebrate today.
"Robert Frederick Gauss was born
62 years ago in Baltimore. He died at Gettysburg
Hospital on Sunday. May 21. During all those years, he
touched each of you here in some special way. Perhaps
through his business, as a professional land surveyor.
Or through the Boy Scouts, or the Lions Club, the
Mason-Dixon Festival, or the Business and Professional
Association, or the Emmitsburg Historical Association.
He was a community person and the whole community feels
his loss. A number of you have asked to share your
special memories of Bob and to let his wife, Crystal and
his sons, Bob, Jr., and Jim, and Chris and their
families know in what special ways their husband and
father influenced your lives."
Between prayers, scripture readings
and music family, friends and colleagues remembered Bob
Gauss. Among the speakers were his sister, Nancy Penrod,
and fellow surveyor Terry Roderick
Following are some excerpts from
euologies given by Elizabeth Prongas, Joan Boyle, and
Herb Gingell.
"From the day Bob set foot in
this community many years ago, he assumed the
responsibility of a caring active citizen. His
enthusiasm and tireless involvement made him beloved and
respected by all those who were fortunate enough to have
known him. In his tireless efforts for the shaping of a
better Emmitsburg, he attended countless town meetings,
worked with regional and county planners, and became
involved in so many community activities...Bob was
always there for all of us, a broad shoulder for all of
us to lean on, gently persuasive when things needed to
be done, but never confrontational.
"We must all learn from this life
that has been taken from us. We have been touched by a
man with humility and an indefinable spirit of immense
goodness." —Elizabeth Prongas
"Robert F. Gauss _ dedicated
citizen, valued friend. In both cases, an individual
nonpareil.
"When there was a need for new
arrangements for the use of the town’s tennis
court...Bob volunteered to be responsible for its upkeep
which he did faithfully for three years that I know
of...
"Later when Virginia Sanders and
I were responsible for updating the Historical Society’s
"Walking Tours" we discovered that to include
a map of the Town with identification of a name for the
stream by the Post Office...we would need a survey of
the stream. Who else came to our rescue but Bob with all
his expertise ...as he embraced the laborious
negotiations with the powers that be...in all about
seven years.
"On July 15, 1999, Bob received a
letter from Roger L. Payne, Executive Secretary of the
United States Board of Geographic Names saying ‘We are
pleased to inform you that the U.S. Board on Geographic
Names, at its July 8, 1999 meeting, approved the name Willow
Rill for a stream in Frederick County..... and
[Willow Rill has been entered into the Nation's official
automated geographic names repository. The entry will
read as follows:
Willow
Rill: stream, 1.6 km (1mi) long, heads at the SW
edge of the community of Emmitsburg at 39º42’11"N,
77º20’07"W, flows E. 1.6 km (1mi) before joining
Flat Run; named for the willows lining the banks of the
stream; Frederick County, Maryland 39º42’01"N,
77º19’10"W; USGS map_ Emmitsburg 1:24,000.
"Bob has radiated the basic ideal
of Athenian Democracy when the Athenian became a legal
citizen by pledging ‘We will transmit this city more
beautiful than it was transmitted to us.’ Thank you,
Bob, for giving Emmitsburg such a legacy of making it a
more beautiful place in which to live. Let us cherish
your legacy by continuing its beauty."
—Joan Boyle
"We are here today, not to mourn
a death, but to celebrate a life. Bob has lived a life
committed to family and community. He was involved in
many civic organizations whose main goal is to make our
community a better place in which to live. I can attest
to his commitment to the organizations he was affiliated
with, especially the Emmitsburg Lions Club. Bob was a
member of the original Emmitsburg Lions Club which was
disbanded, and later reorganized.
"The original Lions Club
instituted a Children’s Christmas Party . When the
club disbanded, Bob continued to direct this party until
our club was reorganized (and he was made chairman).
Thanks to Bob, the Children’s Christmas party has
operated for 70 consecutive years.
"At our annual Community Day
celebration Bob directed the closest-to-the-pin golf
contest, directed the raffle tent, also was co-chairman
of our annual Health Fair and Scholarship Fund. He will
be greatly missed, not only by the many organizations he
has served, but by the entire community.
"Our condolences go out to the
Gauss family and I know Bob has left a message with all
of us to keep striving in all our endeavors to help
create a community we can all be proud of."
—Herbert Gingell.
Do you
know of an individual who helped shape Emmitsburg?
If so, send their story to us at: history@emmitsburg.net
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