Thomas Bollin

1941 - 2023

By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Thomas Bollin, a former Toledo educator and Perrysburg councilman, who became a school superintendent in Lorain, Ohio, and then suburban Minneapolis, died Saturday in Rocky River Village assisted living facility in Rocky River, Ohio. He was 82.

He had Parkinson's disease, his daughter, Buffy DeWitt, said. He moved to Rocky River from Minnesota about a decade ago to be near family.

Mr. Bollin retired in 1999 from the Robbinsdale school district in Minnesota. He became superintendent there in 1995 after serving as Lorain's superintendent from 1989-94.

He'd been TPS executive director of personnel when, in 1985, he was promoted to assistant superintendent. He'd earlier been executive director of elementary education after serving as a supervising principal for the system's elementary schools. He'd been an assistant principal of Fulton School and principal of Oakdale School.

He received the Outstanding Educator Award in 1980 from the Ohio Congress of Parents and Teachers.

As family dinner table conversation made evident, "He was passionate about education," his son, Kip Bollin, said. Mrs. DeWitt added: "Public education in particular."

He found satisfying the big-picture aspect of administration.

"He loved the policy. He loved trying to affect things on a bigger scale and move the system in a direction," his son said. His daughter said: "It was making a difference for everyone."

He began his career at Perrysburg High School and taught and directed theater at the University of Toledo before TPS hired him in 1966 to teach English, speech, and drama at DeVilbiss High School.

He directed plays and taught with aplomb.

"He had a way of involving students," said Sue Hoffman, a colleague at DeVilbiss and a close friend, with her late husband, Richard, of Mr. Bollin and his former wife, Connie. When he directed students in plays, "he was able to work with them, and not just tell them. He was creative in his lessons as well.

"He became a mentor for me as a classroom teacher," she said. "Tom motivated people in fantastic ways."

He was president of the Toledo Education Association in the early 1970s as it sought, unsuccessfully, to be the sole bargaining agent for teachers.

He put his positive outlook and community mindedness to work as a member of Perrysburg City Council, on which he served through the 1980s.

He was born May 5, 1941, to Jeannette and Douglas Bollin and grew up in North Toledo. He was a 1959 graduate of Woodward High School, where he played trumpet in the marching band directed by Samuel Szor and took part in theater. He was a 2000 inductee to Woodward's hall of fame. At UT, he received bachelor's, master's, and education specialist degrees.

For two decades, Mr. Bollin was the master of ceremonies for the summertime Music Under the Stars series at the Toledo Zoo. His friend Mr. Szor conducted the Toledo Concert Band, and Mr. Bollin told concertgoers the story behind the music, based on hours of research.

He was a former member of First Unitarian Church of Toledo.

He was formerly married to Connie Stearns Bollin. Surviving are his daughter, Buffy DeWitt; son, Kip Bollin, and three grandchildren.

A celebration of life service will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River, where he was a member.

The family suggests tributes to the scholarship program of the Woodward Alumni Hall of Fame Association, woodwardhalloffame.org/scholarships.