Keith Gaskell, 61, former Rockville Centre school board president

Keith Gaskell, a former president of the Rockville Centre Board of Education, died on Sept. 17, of a rare neurological disease. He was 61.

Gaskell was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 9, 1950, to Violet and Harold Gaskell. An only child, he was raised in Brooklyn by his mother, a pianist who introduced him to classical music, which became a lifelong love. He spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada, with his mother and relatives and enjoyed exploring the region’s lakes, forests and woodlands.

A top-notch student, Gaskell attended Brooklyn Tech and, later, Pratt Institute, where he studied engineering. He would credit that training for helping him learn how to think. He met his future wife, Teresa Basile, when they were both 17. Dating on and off, they agreed to finish school before they married — on April 14, 1973. Both were starting out as young professionals, she as a teacher and he finishing grad school while working part-time at Topps Baseball cards. They decided to buy a home, settling in Rockville Centre, when their Brooklyn landlady raised their rent by $10 a month.

At Pratt Institute, Gaskell laid the groundwork for his lifelong involvement with advocacy. In the tumultuous climate of the 1970s, he joined forces with protesting student artists. He challenged the school’s administration and ended up being appointed by the school’s trustees as the first student trustee, paving the way for students to be included in school policy-making.

After graduating from Pratt, Gaskell decided not to become an engineer. He found his dream job at Topps, said his wife and daughters, where he became assistant to the sports director.

Having grown up as an only child, family was important to Gaskell, said his wife, and he adored the family they created beginning with Timmy’s birth in 1978. He was born with Down syndrome, but the Gaskells took his condition in stride. They decided that they would take care of him together. Teresa left her teaching job to stay at home with him, and Keith took a job with his brother-in-law in New York City, which allowed him the flexibility to help care for Timmy.

The Gaskell family expanded with the births of Jenna in 1981 and Kara in 1984. Having become a self-employed financial investor with a home office, Keith was in many ways a stay-at-home dad. He was known to be a great short-order cook, and, his family recalled, made delicious breakfasts and lunches for his kids.

Advocating for Timmy as a special-needs child led the Gaskells to become deeply involved with the Association for Children with Down Syndrome, a parent-run organization. Keith became its president, and spearheaded many programs that both enriched the children’s education and financially benefited the association. He was in his element, his wife said, flourishing as a leader and innovator.

There were no programs for people with developmental delays in the Rockville Centre school district. With other parents, Gaskell helped the schools create a program that would become a model in the county and throughout the state — integrating special-needs children into regular school activities. This allowed Timmy and other children to take part in activities and sports alongside mainstream kids, not just those in special-needs programs.

Gaskell served as president of the Rockville Centre Special Education PTA for two years, and then spent 13 years on the Board of Education, from 1990 to 2002, including several as its president. “Keith Gaskell was incredibly talented in how he viewed our school district and our kids,” said school board Vice President Mark Masin. “There’s been no one who understood the nuances of school finances as well as he. He established the special-needs programs for our students [and they] do well compared to other districts. He will be sorely missed.”

Former school board president and long-time Trustee Lorrie Brady noted Gaskell’s financial acumen and his concern for students. “Keith was one of the finest board members I had the pleasure to serve with,” Brady said. “He put the needs of the children first, but he always had his eye on the bottom line. He was the source of many of the most creative ideas we implemented as we tried to keep tax increases down during the 1990s. When he decided not to run again in 2002, it was a real loss to the school district community.”

Schools Superintendent Dr. William Johnson spoke about Gaskell before a moment of silence in his honor at the start of the Sept. 19 Board of Education meeting. “He was somebody about whom this community should be proud,” Johnson said. “His impact was incredible. [I’m] sad to see him go … sorry to see his early departure from this world.”

In 1999 Gaskell was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and in subsequent years he suffered a silent heart attack and developed glaucoma.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate his life and mourn his loss at a graveside service in Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on Sept 20. In honor of the many years Gaskell spent working on behalf of the children of Rockville Centre, his family requests that donations in his memory be made to fund an annual scholarship that will be awarded to a student who has distinguished him or herself by helping to include peers with special needs in the life of South Side High School. Donations can be mailed to the Keith Gaskell Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o the Rockville Centre School District, 128 Shepherd St., Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11570.