Cassell Grubb

Cassel Grubb died on Jan. 1, 2012.

He was born in Palmyra, Pa., on July 23, 1923 and was the son of Pennsylvania Germans, William M. Grubb and Alva Cassel Grubb.

On Dec. 26, 1948 he married Bernice Flanagan, his wife of 63 years, in Highland Park, Ill., and she survives.

Also surviving are three sons, William and his wife, Laurie, James and his wife, Maura, and Thomas and his wife, Betty.

Cassel Grubb was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where he studied with the famous Italian cellist Luigi Silva.

While in Rochester, he played in the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra conducted by Howard Hanson. After completing his degrees he took a position at Del Mar College in Texas and performed in the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.

In 1949 he came to DePauw University, School of Music as instructor of cello and music theory. He became cellist in the university's resident ensemble, the Aeolian Trio. He held these positions until he retired in 1989.

During the last 10 years of his tenure he served as director of the School of Music.

In 1963 he was appointed director of chamber music and instructor of cello at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. He held this position for 41 years.

Cassel Grubb was honored by both DePauw University and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

At DePauw he was the first recipient of the Fred Tucker Award in 1988, the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1982, and the Pi Kappa Lambda Award for outstanding service as director of the School of Music in 1988. In 1999 two DePauw alumni, Gary and Sandra Drew established the Cassel Grubb Professorship in the School of Music. In May 2011 DePauw awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music degree.

At Interlochen, Cassel Grubb was honored with the Applause Award for Outstanding Teaching in 1991. In 2008 his former students and friends established the Cassel Grubb Cello Scholarship, which is given each summer to an outstanding young cellist.

In retirement he pursued a lifelong hobby of furniture making. He had a complete workshop in his home where he made countless pieces of furniture, all in cherry wood, for his sons. Included in his collection are four grandfather clocks.

There will be a Memorial Mass at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 202 E. Washington St., Greencastle.

Contributions may be made to the Cassel Grubb Cello Scholarship, Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen, MI 49643 or St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the church.

Arrangements were entrusted to Bittles and Hurt Funeral Home, Greencastle.