Dr. Antonio B. Paat

1930 - 2022

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Dr. Antonio B. Paat, a physician who cared for Toledo-area families - in his office or their home - as he helped form an international medical mission group and a Filipino community association, died Thursday in Waterford at Levis Commons, Perrysburg. He was 91.

He had multiple myeloma and was in declining health, his family said. He and his wife, Teodora, were at Waterford most recently, but their longtime home was in southwest Toledo.

Dr. Paat retired at age 79, about 20 years after his son Dr. Richard Paat joined him in medical practice. The doctors, father and son, spoke with The Blade a decade ago about caring for others, locally and abroad.

"We have fulfilled our American dream," the elder Dr. Paat said in 2012.

He received his medical degree in 1955 from the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila for further training and became chief surgical resident at Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo. Afterward, he returned to the Philippines, with a private practice at a hospital in Quezon City.

He, his wife, and the family returned to the United States in 1966 and settled in Toledo, home of his wife's cousin and her husband, Lolita and Dr. Angel Quinto, and later became U.S. citizens. He served on staff at St. Luke's Hospital, then on Robinwood Avenue, and opened an office practice at Collingwood Boulevard and Monroe Street. His office later was at Glendale Avenue and Byrne Road and then in Maumee.

"His patients were very dedicated and followed him," the younger Dr. Paat said. "He loved Toledo and didn't want to live anyplace else. He really thrived here. He was accepted and was part of the medical community at St. Luke's and the Academy of Medicine. It was a wonderful place to raise a family."

He delivered babies in early years, and he made house calls.

"It was always about the patient first," son James Paat said. "What made him a good doctor made him a wonderful dad."

The younger Dr. Paat said: "When I think of a physician, I think of my dad."

When his son came to work at the office, the elder Dr. Paat advised that he'd have to build his practice from scratch as well.

"Nothing was handed to me," the younger Dr. Paat said. "He helped me, obviously. He taught me how to do the business side of medicine, the things you don't learn in medical school or your residency. He said you need to make sure you look like a professional, always treat the patients with respect."

The elder Dr. Paat was a founder and chairman of the Special Commission On Relief and Education Foundation, a nonprofit group known as SCORE, which supports medical missions globally and provides disaster relief. The parents of a baby he delivered while on a medical mission to a rural area in the Philippines named the child after him.

The elder Dr. Paat also helped found the Filipino Association of Toledo in 1978, starting with 35 families, he told The Blade in 2012, when more than 300 families were participating.

"The Filipino community is still very close," he said in 2012. In that community he was called "Manong," a term for a respected elder, his sons said.

His son Tony said: "It was important to bring up family with cultural awareness," adding that the close bonds made community like family.

"Everyone is an uncle or auntie, whether you're related or not," he said. "We grew up with a ton of cousins, even though our actual cousins were in the Philippines.

"He was such a caring and genuine person. He would smile and joke and kid," son Tony said. "His aura was calming and friendly to people."

He was born Dec. 5, 1930, in Santa, Ilocos Sur, Philippines to Eufrosina and Melquiades Paat. When the Japanese invaded in World War II, he and his father hid in the mountains for a time.

Surviving are his wife, the former Teodora Quinsay, whom he married May 9, 1957; sons Dr. John Paat, Dr. Richard Paat, Tony Paat, and James Paat; daughter, Judith Henkin; sisters Josephine Hardy and Remedious Maceda; 12 grandchildren; six step-grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Thursday at the Coyle Funeral Home, with a Rosary service at 7 p.m. The funeral Mass will begin at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Joan of Arc Church, where he was a member.

The family suggests tributes to Special Commission On Relief and Education - SCORE - PO Box 715, Maumee, Ohio, 43537-0715.