Gil Ascunce

Gil Ascunce, resident of Falls Church, Virginia, died peacefully from complications of Glioblastoma at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C. on Sunday, July 28, 2024 at the age of 78. He is the eldest son of four children born to Gil Ascunce Sotolongo and Hilda Isabel Gonzalez Puig in Santa Clara, Cuba. He had a happy childhood attending Catholic schools, playing baseball, and vacationing at the beach.

His family exiled to Miami, Florida when he was fifteen years old where he graduated from Miami Senior High School. As an adolescent, he worked tirelessly to financially support his family as his father continued to fight for freedom in Cuba. Once reunited, his family moved to Washington, D.C. where his mother was admitted to Georgetown University to study linguistics at the doctorate level. Gil completed his undergraduate degree at The Catholic University of America where he played basketball, worked many jobs such as selling shoes, and made many good friends.

He attended the University of Salamanca in Spain, where he completed his medical degree and met the love of his life, Consuelo Carmen Arenas. They married at St. Martin Catholic Church in Salamanca, Spain in 1972.

In 1973, he launched his career and started a family in Northern Virginia where he served the community as a gastroenterologist for nearly fifty years, mostly at Arlington Hospital (now Virginia Hospital Center) while also teaching physical diagnosis to Georgetown University medical students. When Gil was not working, he loved to spend time with his family and friends, listen to music, watch movies, work in his yard, take long walks, travel the world, attend sporting events, eat ice cream, and dance (which he did until the very end). He was a lifelong parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and a dedicated volunteer doctor for the Retreat for the Seriously Ill.

His youngest sister, whom he loved dearly, Isabel, died in a car accident during her senior year of college. Gil is survived by his wife, Consuelo Carmen; his brother Jorge; his sister Gilda; his children Aránzazu (Daniel) of Falls Church, Gil Ignacio (Rebecca) of New York City, Gabriel (Christine) of Leesburg, and grandchildren Lucas Ignacio, Mateo Julian, Xavier Nicholas, and Santiago Ascunce.

The family wishes to express its deepest gratitude for the skilled and compassionate care provided by Dr. Amjad Nasr Anaizi, Dr. Cameron Brennan, Dr. Edina Komlodi-Pasztor, Dr. Ingo Mellinghoff, and Dr. Christopher Walsh.

Family will receive friends at Murphy Funeral Home, 4510 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA on Wednesday, July 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, August 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 3305 Glen Carlyn Road, Falls Church, VA.