By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SYCAMORE TWP. - Paul A. Toliver never missed an opportunity to learn.

"He loved to talk to you about any subject," said his wife of 44 years, Ernestine Toliver of Sycamore Township.

A 2nd lieutenant in the Army during World War II, he learned to speak Italian while stationed in Parma, Italy.

After retiring from his career as a math and science teacher, the Mensa member took photography classes, and collected and categorized plates.

Affectionately known as "Daddy Paul" by his family, his wife's students knew him as "Mr. T," the man who showed up at her school bearing cakes and cookies.

Mr. Toliver died Jan. 16 at Christ Hospital from complications of a stroke and diabetes. The longtime Sycamore Township resident was 85.

"He was a great mentor who kept track of all the teen-agers he knew," said his niece, Sylvia Jones-Smith of Wyoming.

Raised in Walnut Hills, Mr. Toliver graduated from Walnut Hills High School before moving to Alabama to study physical education at Talladega College.

He earned a bachelor's degree from the college and taught physical education there until joining the Army - when he was 25 - to serve in World War II.

During the war, Mr. Toliver was stationed mostly in Italy and in the North African theater. He received numerous citations, including two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Honorably discharged after the war, he worked for the Young Men's Christian Association in Baltimore before moving to Columbus to work on his master's degree at Ohio State University.

About a year later, he returned to Cincinnati, and took a position at the U.S. Postal Service.

Eventually, he returned to education and worked as a substitute math teacher at various Cincinnati Public schools until 1958, when he accepted a full-time position at Heberle School in the West End as a science and math teacher.

Mr. Toliver earned a master's degree in education from the University of Cincinnati in the early 1960s and spent most of his years at Peaslee School in Over-the-Rhine, and later at Rothenburg School in Over-the-Rhine.

Mr. Toliver retired from teaching in 1979 but remained active by working at various places, including the Internal Revenue Service, AAA and Sears. He also tutored children and adults.

He enjoyed traveling, listening to music, and was very active in the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Walnut Hills.

A son, Raymond Lewis, preceded him in death.

Besides his wife, survivors include a daughter, Yvonne Holiday of Detroit; three sons, Christopher of Boston, Paul of Seattle, and Ronald Lewis of Orlando, Fla.; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services have been held.

Entombment is in Spring Grove Mausoleum.

Memorials: American Diabetes Foundation, 8899 Brookside Ave., West Chester, OH 45103.

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com