Rev. Rod Gist has been making music since learning the harmonica from his dad on the family farm. His years of duty to country in World War II were filled with the gift of music, as were his years of impassioned ministry in local churches and in the camping programs of the Dakotas Conference. Rod and his wife, Doris, are retired in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but their retirement isn't as sedentary as some might expect for a 95-year-old pastor.
Rod has joined the "Kazukes", a musical group of seniors out of Active Generations in Sioux Falls. While the musicians are mostly women, Rod is one of a few men who perform with them at area nursing homes and events, offering his instrumental flexibility and raising the average age of the group, too.
Rod enjoys helping those folks the group performs for, as well as the friends he's made in the group.
Alfonzo Galvan has the full story for the Argus Leader here.