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 Virginia N. Gaskill, 84
 May 20, 2025
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Virginia Holmes (Nettleton) Gaskill, 84, of Williamstown died on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at her home. She was a fifth-generation Berkshire County native, born in Pittsfield on August 22, 1940, a daughter of the late Albert N. and Dorothy (Roberts) Nettleton of Lee. Her father was a former President of Lee Savings Bank. She had been a resident of Williamstown since 1962.
“Ginny” graduated from Lee High School in 1958. She worked at General Electric Ordnance Systems in Pittsfield from 1958 to 1961. In 1960, she married John Paul Gaskill, and they raised two children together before parting ways in 1978. A dedicated professional, she served Williams College for 32 years, starting in the mailroom in 1978 and retiring as Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development in 2010, leaving a lasting impact on the institution.
Virginia volunteered as a host family for international students at the Center for Development Economics at Williams College for 30 years, specializing in supporting students from Southeast Asian countries. She loved the Philippines and traveled many times to visit her extended family.
She was a descendant of William Brewster and a member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. She was a member of Second Congregational Church, South Williamstown. She enjoyed simple country pleasures: embroidering, gardening, and antiquing. She could often be found working in her large garden, maintaining her flower beds or mowing her lawn and large fields. She took great pride in her home and its magnificent views of the Berkshire hills.
She is survived by sons Jeffrey Gaskill of Williamstown and Peter Gaskill of Brattleboro, VT; daughters-in-law Mila Bagry-Gaskill and Melissa Mroz-Gaskill; grandchildren: Emma Gaskill of North Kingstown, RI, Noah Gaskill of Brattleboro, VT, and Anna Mary Gaskill of Newport, RI; two great-grandchildren; a sister, “Dixie” Willis, of Pittsfield; brother-in-law Robert Gaskill of Hancock; nieces and nephews: Sharon Billetter of Dalton, Deborah Hiltz of Glens Falls, NY, Stephen Willis of Agawam, and Mark Gaskill of Hancock.
FUNERAL NOTICE: Services for Virginia Gaskill will be Friday, May 30, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Second Congregational Church in Williamstown. Before the service, burial will be for the immediate family only in Southlawn Cemetery. A link for live streaming of the service will be provided on the funeral home website. Gifts in her memory may be given to Shriners Children's Hospital or Alzheimer’s Association and can be sent to Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, 521 West Main St., North Adams, MA 01247.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Richard Wiseman and devoted caregivers Astrid Halten and Kelly Powell, Julie Lamphere of HospiceCare in the Berkshires, and Janie Bates and her team at the City of Pittsfield’s Supportive Day Program.
To view the livestream of the service, see the link below
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83007539046-pwd=bUwjUepQpLYGjgGPW1yUBlDhl4nmch.1
Passcode: 413458
It was a cold January, 42 years ago, when I arrived in Williamstown, a refugee from Iran. There hadn’t been much time before my arrival for anyone to sort out the details of where I would end up. It had been complicated enough just to secure school enrollment and the student visa it enabled. While I had temporary housing with a dear family friend, Rita Dillon, it was unclear where I would live once I was settled into school.
Rita reached out to Ginny. Ginny was known to be friendly and hospitable to visiting students, having been a "host family" to a number of international students at Williams College. She provided them cultural and logistical support: helping them identify local services and resources, open bank accounts, navigate to such fine(!) shopping destinations like Allendale Shopping Center and North Adams Kmart, and learn about U.S. traditions like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and more. Above all, she’d regularly have them over to her home and make them home-cooked meals - especially when a student was left alone over any of the holidays.
Ginny was a single mother to two boys, Jefferey and Peter. She also had a full-time career at the Williams College Alumni Relations office. Despite that, she offered to take me in and provide me a room in their home for the last months of that school year. I was grateful, though hesitant, as I felt like I would be crowding their home - especially since Peter was offering to give up his room and share Jeffrey’s room so that I could sleep there.
Ginny had many cultural and regional lessons in store for me. She helped me add some color to my limited wardrobe of black and whites. She took me along on family visits and antiquing trips to Lee, Lenox, Springfield, Hancock, Troy, and other nearby towns. Gradually, I began to get a feel for the Berkshires and learned the history of the area.
I distinctly remember a trip to a maple syrup farm, where I saw the daunting maze of plumbing and the endless boiling of sap. Ginny even helped me learn how to drive and get my driver’s license. That proved very helpful, as it allowed me to get from school to Williams and back, where I was taking college-level classes during my senior year.
The boys did their bit to teach me how to be "cool": “Casey Kasem's Top 40 is crap! Real music is R.E.M., the Talking Heads, Joan Armatrading, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, David Bowie, the B-52s ... ." Peter introduced me to his senior class friends, and I remember letting me tag along to help with his classmates' senior prank. Jefferey being older and wiser, would recount his college experience and help me figure out what was to follow after high school.
At the end of my short junior year, my housing options expanded a bit. My mother and sister were in the U.S., but they were sharing a small two-bedroom apartment with my mother’s family. We were still waiting for my dad to join us in the U.S. and identify a permanent location where he could find employment. Ginny generously offered to let me stay on for my senior year of high school, especially given that Peter was leaving for college.
This turned out to be fortuitous later. As I had no substantial school records from my Iranian schools, I was at a disadvantage when applying to schools. Remaining in Williamstown and continuing at Mt. Greylock provided me with at least a brief stretch of continuous school records and grades.
Ginny didn’t do this for any material gain. I know I imposed on her and her boys, and so much so. I tried to help out by doing chores like mowing the yard (trying hard to avoid damaging the mower on the hidden patches of bedrock on that wind-blown hilltop), or painting the garage (I think I put on too many coats of paint and ran out early), but all in all, I know that she was making a sacrifice to have me there with them. That’s who Ginny was: someone who would quietly go out of her way to help someone in need.
I’ve tried to visit often, always making a point of seeing her and catching up over a meal whenever I was back in Williamstown. She came to our wedding, as she already knew my wife’s family, and over the years she came to know our three kids as well. Still, I often wished I had lived closer, so I could have told her more often, and more fully, just how much she meant to me: for taking me in, for softening the shock of a new country, and for helping me find my footing in a world that was completely unfamiliar.
I am deeply saddened that I will no longer get to see her when visiting Williamstown. But driving by her home on top of that hill will always stir something in me — a reminder of the kind and generous person she was, and of how much she did for a stranger trying to find his place in a new land. Her warmth, her humor and her laugh, and her unwavering kindness, will stay with me, always.
| | from: Mahboud Zabetian | on: 05-30-2025 |
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Dear Jeff and Peter,
I thank God for Ginny. She was an Angel sent to me when I was feeling alone being miles away from my family, and at times, isolated, at Williams. She gave me a home there, and I felt supported and comforted knowing I had her as my foster mom. I was always uplifted by Ginny’s cheerful voice and smile, and high spirits. Thank you for sharing her with me. She was an Angel here on earth, she will be an Angel in the Heavens.
Rest in God’s loving embrace Ginny. Thank you for being part of my life. I will never forget you.
Vi Cervantes
Williams CDE 2001-2002
| | from: | on: 05-24-2025 |
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Dear Jeff and Peter,
I met your mom about 30 years ago when we were invited by my sister Judi to see the fireworks on the 4 the of July. From that point in time, Ginny and I became friends. I was extremely blessed to have Ginny put in my life's path. We shared some holidays together,and she always brought me gifts from the Philippines. She was a single,penniless mom of two sons she adored..She taught me to have grace under fire. We last saw her at her 80th birthday party on the front porch. Rest in peace, my friend.. you are one of a kind. Sincerely, Cheryl | | from: Cheryl and Fran Witherell | on: 05-23-2025 |
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