Funeral Services Held For Gary Karpinski
Funeral mass for Gary Karpinski, a charter associate member of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, was celebrated on Tuesday, June 4 in Saint Matthias Roman Catholic Church in Somerset, New Jersey. He passed away at age 46 at his father’s home in Somerset, New Jersey on Friday, May 31. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2001 as part of a large inaugural group of associate members.
Memorial donations may be made to the Karpinski Children Scholarship Fund, care of Dzikowski, Pierce & Levis Funeral Home, 24 East 19th St., Bayonne New Jersey. Condolence messages may be left at www.dplfh.com
He had served several east coast drum and bugle corps both on and off the field since 1976. He played in the drum sections of the Saints Drum and Bugle Corps of Fords/Edison, Blessed Sacrament parade corps and was a member of the Bayonne Bridgemen percussion section when it was judged the best drum line in the Drum Corps International (DCI) championship finals in 1981 and 1982. He was one of the founders of the Bayonne Bridgeman Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps.
He was a snare drummer with New York Skyliners from 1985 to 1992 and an award-winning pit performer in 1993. He was Skyliners head drum major in 2000 and 2001. He had been on the drum staff and served on the administrative staff of both the Bridgemen and Skyliners. With Skyliners, he assisted with fund raising and served as personnel director. He had also been a percussion judge with the NJA judging community.
Born in Bayonne, he lived in Edison and Verona New Jersey before returning to Bayonne five years ago. He worked as a self-employed commodities trader. He is survived by his former wife Robin and children Alex, Jessica, Rebecca and David Karpinski; father Walter J. Karpinski and his wife Sally; sister Joanne Sotirhos and her husband Andy. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.
Since its founding in 1976 by the late Vince Bruni of Rochester, New York, membership in the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame has grown from six charter members to 467 regular and associate members from the United States and Canada, who have contributed to the activity across North America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Middle East, South Africa and Japan.
The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization honoring those individuals who have contributed significantly over many years to the development and continuing excellence of drum and bugle corps activity. The organization also seeks to preserve the history of the drum and bugle corps movement in North America by selecting a noteworthy junior and all age (senior) corps of the decade.
