Claudia Jean Trombla

1934 - 2019

(News story) Claudia Jean Trombla, an elementary school teacher who in retirement worked with young musicians vying for a chance to perform with the Toledo Symphony, died Thursday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. She was 84.

She was recovering from a heart attack when she developed a brain bleed, her daughter, Alysia Tromblay, said.

Mrs. Trombla of Holland retired from Fall-Meyer Elementary School, where she taught fifth graders for much of a career that spanned five decades.

"She was very empathetic. She had patience in teaching people things, and she didn't get rattled easily," said Beverly Zielinski, to whom she was close since Woodward High School, of which they and their friend Jamie Farr - then Jameel Farah - were 1952 graduates.

Mrs. Trombla's approach impelled action, at home and on the job, in leisure and volunteerism.

"Nothing was really impossible," her daughter said. "If she told you you were going to walk those four miles, you were going to. Or an acre was going to be plowed by sundown. It was going to be done."

She encountered her students frequently, former fifth graders who approached and said, "'If it weren't for you, I wouldn't 'x-y-z'," her daughter recalled. "She was so adored and respected by her students.

"If she said you're going to learn those things, you're going to learn them, and she supplied the life force that lit the fire, and there was no turning back," her daughter said.

From high school on, Mrs. Trombla took part in an array of groups. In the Toledo Symphony League, she oversaw the annual Young Artist Competition, which included advertising the event, meeting student musicians and their parents, and helping them schedule accompanists. She then helped the student winners get ready for their rehearsals and performance with the symphony.

She would present nervous students at their audition with an extra-large chocolate bar, and "The tension just dissipated. It was gone," said Dorothy Bonser, formerly the league's vice president of education. "She was very close with all of the young people who auditioned and became friendly with their families as well. She knew a lot about music and had a wry sense of humor, and she was very warm. She was a performer herself and knew what had to happen in a competition and performance."

Mrs. Trombla sang barbershop-style harmonies for decades with the Pride of Toledo Chorus of Sweet Adelines International. She also played accordion.

She'd been an officer of the Compass Club of Northwest Ohio and directed public relations for the Ohio Retired Teachers Association. In 2010, she received a volunteer award as "Hotline Hottie" from the Lucas County Master Gardener program for spending the most hours working the master gardener horticulture hotline.

She was born June 28, 1934, to Dorothy and Kenneth Mowery and grew up in the Reynolds Corners area of the former Adams Township. She went to Woodward, where her father had attended night school, and belonged to the Honor Society and Leaders Club and was junior class treasurer and senior yearbook editor.

She received bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of Toledo.

She and her husband, Eugene Trombla, married June 8, 1958. He died June 12, 2015.

Surviving are her son, Mark Trombla; daughter, Alysia Tromblay; sisters Bonnie Simpson and Dorene Timiney; stepsister, Bonnie Shrider; six grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Maumee United Methodist Church, where she was a member. Arrangements are by Newcomer Funeral Home, Southwest Chapel.

The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Symphony League for a memorial scholarship, created in her honor, to be awarded future Young Artist Competition winners.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.