Paul W. Park, Jr. (1926-2019)

Jan. 30--Paul W. Park, Jr., active until recently in the insurance business he built on command of detail and bonhomie, died Sunday at Kingston Residence of Sylvania, where he lived less than a year. He was 92.

He had kidney failure, his family said.

He started what is now Park and Company in the late 1940s. Sons Jim and Tom Park are partners in the Sylvania Township insurance firm.

"Dad was coming to the office three days a week two weeks before he died," said son Jim. "He was always there with a smile and a laugh and made you smile and laugh, and you felt comfortable having him be your insurance guy."

Mr. Park regularly greeted new clients to the firm with, "'I'm the old man here. Good to have you on board,'" son Jim recalled.

Even last month, a Sylvania Township neighbor of his son Tom's noticed Mr. Park aboard a tractor, helping clear the yard of leaves.

"He truly enjoyed being in the yard together, working," his son Tom said. "He taught us all many lessons about life."

Returning from Navy service in World War II, Mr. Park was a mechanic at the former Taystee Bread bakery. He also worked in the family's North Toledo business, American Screw Machine Co., which his father founded. His father sold insurance as a cushion against the Great Depression, according to the Park and Company website. The elder Mr. Park contributed his clients to the younger Mr. Park and the new insurance agency in the late 1940s.

Mr. Park thrived on organization and order. He got to knew the fine print in policies and, for customers, "he brought it home in a personable way," son Jim said. "He was such a gregarious guy.

"His skill was simplification, being able to bring things down to a level the person could understand and be comfortable with. He would spend as much time with a customer as they needed and wanted."

He emphasized to his sons, as they joined the business, "'What we do is we give every customer the best deal we can,'" son Jim recalled.

"He was sincere," said John Brenner, longtime owner of Brenner Marine and a friend for 40 years. "He treated customers like he was their family."

He was born April 24, 1926, in Norwalk, Ohio, to Mildred and Paul Park. The family settled in North Toledo, where his father began American Screw Machine Co. After graduating from Woodward High School, he followed his older brother, James "Dick" Park, into the Navy during World War II.

Mr. Park was a former president of the Exchange Club of West Toledo and a former director of Toledo Home Federal Savings.

He'd been a trustee and Sunday school teacher at First Congregational Church.

He was a member of Robinson Locke Lodge, F&AM, and last month received a pin to mark 70 years as a Mason.

He and his wife, Gloria, grew up during the big band era and were known for their skill on the dance floor. He could play piano and guitar by ear. He came to be a fan of traditional jazz -- music in vogue when he was born, or before -- not by listening to old 78 r.p.m. records, but from performances in the living room of his former Old Orchard home by pianist Rick Grafing -- best known now as Ragtime Rick -- and his son Jim, who in time played banjo for the Cakewalkin' Jass Band, when they were high school students.

For more than a decade, Mr. Park was a regular at the Wednesday performances at the Sodbuster Bar in Sylvania by Ragtime Rick and His Chefs of Dixieland. His favorite tune, whatever the venue, was Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider.

"Everybody knew him," Mr. Grafing said. "He was a fan of not only the music, but he loved the people there too."

He and the former Gloria Stanislawski married Sept. 20, 1947. She died March 2, 2013.

Surviving are his sons, James and Thomas; daughter, Paula Park; two grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Thursday and from noon-1:30 p.m. Friday at the Walker Funeral Home, Sylvania Township, where services will be at 2 p.m. Friday.

The family suggests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.

First Published January 30, 2019, 12:00am

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