The Rev. Paul J. Gruber, former principal at Elder High School, died Friday at Bayley Place in Delhi Township. He was 83.

        Born and raised in Price Hill, he attended St. Teresa School in Price Hill and Elder High School, graduating in 1936.

        Father Gruber studied at St. Gregory and Mount St. Mary of the West seminaries. He graduated from Mount St. Mary Seminary of the West in Norwood and earned a master's degree in education from Xavier University.

        He was ordained to the priesthood in 1945 and began teaching that year at Elder High School in Price Hill. He served as principal from 1961 to 1970.

        Pat Lambert, a 1957 Elder graduate, said Father Gruber always treated students with dignity and respect.

        In gratitude for his 25 years of service and for his “pursuit of higher things,” Elder High School presented him with the Altiora Award in 1970.

        While he was teaching, Father Gruber was associate pastor of several parishes in Cincinnati, including Mother of Sorrows, Roselawn; Our Lady of Lourdes, Westwood; St. Martin of Tours, Cheviot; St. Lawrence, Price Hill; St. Teresa of Avila, Covedale; and Blessed Sacrament, Sedamsville.

        He was also chaplain at the former St. Francis St. George Hospital in Westwood (now Mercy Franciscan Western Hills) from 1948 to 1950; assistant chaplain at the College of Mount St. Joseph from 1950 to 1952; and assistant chaplain in 1969 at Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse in Delhi Township.

        Father Gruber became pastor of St. Henry Parish in Dayton, Ohio, in 1970 before returning to Cincinnati in 1974 to serve as pastor at Our Lady of Victory in Delhi Township.

        The Rev. Timothy Kallaher was associate pastor at Our Lady of Victory Parish when Father Gruber became pastor.

        He remembers Father Gruber as a “gentle and firm man, always trying to do the will of the Lord, never putting himself forward.”

        In 1982, Father Gruber became pastor at St. Veronica Parish in Mount Carmel and remained there until his retirement in 1989.

        After his retirement, he continued his church involvement at St. Ignatius Church in Monfort Heights, until his health declined in 1999.

        Father Gruber was a talented musician. He loved to travel, read Catholic literature and watch sports.

        Survivors include a brother, Donald Gruber of St. Petersburg, Fla.

        Visitation will be 4:30-8 p.m. Monday at Our Lady of Victory Church, 810 Neeb Road, Delhi Township, with Mass of Christian burial 10 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Burial will immediately follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Price Hill.

        Memorials: J. Paul Gruber Scholarship Fund, Elder High School, 3900 Vincent Ave., Cincinnati 45205.

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