Deacon David Gasman, who was ordained with the first class of permanent deacons to serve the Diocese of Sacramento by Bishop Francis A. Quinn in 1981, died peacefully in his sleep on Aug. 17. He was 88.
The rosary, followed by a vigil service, will be held on Monday, Sept. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, located at 2040 Walnut Ave. in Redding. Bishop Jaime Soto will celebrate the funeral Mass on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m., also at St. Joseph Church.
Deacon David "lived a life fulfilled by service, faith and family," said his son, Mike Gasman. "His physical health declined in recent years, though he continued to enjoy visits of friends and family with his usual wit, wisdom, reflection and insights."
He was born to Ruth Sundwick and Harold Gasman in Escanaba, Michigan. He was the eldest of three children: a brother, Richard, and a sister, Barbara. He attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and completed medical school at Marquette University in Milwaukee, There he met his wife, Kathleen Dougherty, and they married in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on June 7, 1958.
He completed his training at Georgetown University Hospital, served his military requirement as medical director at White Earth and Cass Lake, Minnesota reservations, and was granted a fellowship in medicine and psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. There, the couple welcomed their first four children: Margaret, John, Mike and Eileen.
Deacon David and Kate became members of St. Joseph Parish when they moved to Redding in 1966. He was hired to launch Shasta County Mental Health. Soon after in 1969, he opened a private psychiatry practice in a historic house in Redding. The family enjoyed their home on the banks of the Sacramento River from 1966 to 2019. They added Charlotte and Rachel to the family.
In an interview with Catholic Herald magazine in 2018, Deacon David recalled that his wife was the one who suggested that he apply to be a deacon, after they had both been deeply involved in an ecumenical charismatic prayer group. When he began the formation process they had six children ranging in age from 19 to four. In 2018 they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary..
By traveling to Galt to attend the weekend formation classes with the other deacon candidates, “we saw ourselves as a real community from the beginning,” said Deacon David. “We felt like we all fit together, this is where we belonged, and we were happy to be the inaugural class. Being in that community enhanced my marriage bond.”
He served the parish and community tirelessly for 40 years. As a deacon, it was gratifying being involved with parents in preparation and then celebrating their children’s baptisms, he said. The sacrament was often incorporated into the Sunday liturgy. In his first 10 years as a deacon, he baptized about 80 children each year.
He was one of a group of Shasta County parishioners who responded to the pastoral concerns of Msgr. Russell Terra and Father Michael Kiernan in 1986 and within three months had become the first board of directors of Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (NVCSS). He served as board president from 1988 to 2014.
His longtime devotion to NVCSS expressed his diaconal commitment of service to others, he said. He witnessed the agency’s growth from a small office building in Redding in 1986 to serving people in need in six north state counties today with some 70 programs, 170 employees and more than 300 volunteers.
In 2018 he noted he was not “officially retired,” and for 13 years he had worked as part of a team at St. Joseph Parish on the Catholics Returning Home program to reach out to fallen-away Catholics in the area. He still preached on the second Sunday of each month at one or two Masses. He also spent time at St. Joseph School, giving support to the administrative team and speaking to students about the permanent diaconate and how they can discern and live out a particular vocation in their own lives.
Deacon David told Catholic Herald magazine that being able to assist at the eucharistic celebration, administering baptisms, conducting funeral services and witnessing marriages is an incredible grace.
“I am with people at significant events and times in their lives,” he noted. “You are a pillar of the parish and people look to you for advice and counsel. Often times they look on the clergy as helpers, and certainly that is what we are supposed to be. Sometimes I am helping people discover their sin, and for all of us that’s one of the biggest aims in our own lives. With God’s help we can get rid of our sinfulness."
“Being a deacon has provided more focus and purpose to my life, making me more aware of what I should be focusing on in terms of being Christian,” he concluded. “I have had the great privilege of helping people.”
In addition to his wife, Kate, he is survived by their six children: Margaret Dixon and husband, Dan Dixon, of Gardnerville, Nevada; John Gasman and wife, Jean Knoll Gasman of Clovis; Mike Gasman and wife, Theresa Flynn Gasman of Redding; Eileen Gasman and husband, Steve Louthain of Bothell, Wash.; Charlotte Gasman and husband, Mike Roe, of Bend, Oregon; and Rachel Robison of Snoqualmie, Washington. He is also survived by 18 grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren; brother-in-law Bill Worman; nephew Willilam Worman; and nieces Susan Worman Vars and Trisha Worman.
The family requests memorial contributions be directed to NVCSS at www.nvcss.org/donations/ or to St. Joseph School in Redding.