Teacher Joe Boyle spread love of learning at Waite High School

        Brilliance. Perseverance. Enthusiasm.
        Those three words astutely describe what Waite High School history teacher Joe Boyle represented and who he was at his core.
        You could also add kind, thoughtful and affable to the mix.
        The beloved educator, who died at 48 on Nov. 21 at the Cleveland Clinic after a nearly 13-year battle with kidney cancer, leaves behind his wife, Katie, three children, Ellie, Joey and Mark, and an East Side community that grew to love him.
        (A GoFundMe account — gofundme.com/f/joe-boyle — has been created to raise money for the family.)
        Boyle’s passion for education and engaging with his students inspired him to teach, and for his efforts, he was named the Gilder-Lehrman Ohio History Teacher of the Year in December 2019, the 2015 Ohio American Legion State Teacher of the Year and the 2011 BCSN Teacher of the Year. Boyle was known for his love of history, including his “Fallen Heroes Project,” which had his students research the history of Toledo natives who died fighting in World War II. His five-book series, “Toledo’s War,” will be published later this month. The original manuscript is believed to have been over 230,000 words.
        “He gave those soldiers a name,” said Dr. Romules Durant, the superintendent of Toledo Public Schools. “He had his students trace the steps of those people that fought in the war. You have to have it in you to teach like that. At the end of the day, he was a true educator. He was so engaging.”
        Waite Principal Todd Deem, who worked with Boyle for nine years, expanded on the importance of Boyle having the students gain an appreciation for local history.
        “That connection the students were able to make to those people who gave their lives, who walked the same halls,” said Deem. “The cool thing about Waite is we opened here in 1914, and it’s the same building.
        Deem talked about Boyle’s character.
        “He’s going to be missed; he was a phenomenal human being because of his attitude toward life. He took his cancer fight in stride,” said Deem. “The way he handled himself – definitely being a model on how to be upbeat and deal with adversity. He was an honest and true person.”
        There is now a void in the East Side community.
        “It’s obviously tough. There’s a constant that’s no longer constant. I think Joe did a hell of a job helping his students deal with things because he was honest and open with the students about the situation,” said Deem. “It’s difficult when that rock, that phenomenal educator and human being, you don’t get to see him every day.
        “I walked into his room and just stood there. It was tough,” he said.
        Boyle is known to many in the area for the virtual teaching methods he employed during the coronavirus pandemic. His enthusiasm for history included him dressing up as historical figures and adding humor to his lectures.
        “Obviously, you have to know your subject matter and content, and he knew it hands down. Part of that (teaching) award he received is about being engaged and engaging the students. You have to make it interesting for students,” said Deem.
        “During COVID, he would dress up, but also do that during normal times. He made it interesting and relevant to the students, with the ‘Fallen Heroes Project,’ the textbook and the subject matter. He engaged the students and would tell them, ‘Right over there, this is where that (historic event) took place.’ He made it accessible to the student,” he said. “When you want to be there and want to teach and spread that knowledge to everyone, it’s genuine. He wanted kids to learn and he wanted them to become smarter. I think that led to him being engaged and doing phenomenal things.”
        Boyle grew up in the village of Grand Rapids and was a resident of Bowling Green. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 1998 following his graduation in 1993 from St. John’s High School.
        One of his college friends was Vince Guerrieri, who worked with Boyle at The BG News in college. Guerrieri, now the web editor at The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, talked about Boyle’s love for his wife and children.
        “When he was diagnosed with cancer, he had three little kids. He knew he wasn’t going to have anywhere near enough time with them, so he was determined to do as much with them as he could,” said Guerrieri. “He took them to ballgames, he took them to concerts, he took them to the Cavs championship parade in 2016. He spent weekends with them at the family cabin. And he got to see two of them graduate from high school.
        “He did a great job in seeing the best of himself in his kids, while helping them avoid the mistakes of his own youth,”
        In the end, Durant summed it up:
        “He was a soldier fighting the battle of his life against cancer,” said Durant. “He put in a long fight. He thought he would never get to see his kids grow up.
        “I’m proud I was able to become friends with him. When he passed, I went back to an email he sent me the previous week about immigrants working to become U.S. citizens,” he said.
        Durant, who graduated from Waite in 1994, played football at the University of Toledo for legendary coach Gary Pinkel.
        “I played football at UT, and my coaches used to always say, ‘Leave it all out on the field.’ Joe certainly did that,” he said.