Gene Toot was a long-time pastor in Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery who left his mark on the East Liverpool community as well.
When Steve Cramer took a trip to Israel more than 30 years ago, he knew it would be a life-changing experience. Traveling to lands with significant Biblical meaning, it turned out it wasn’t what Steve encountered that would affect him going forward, it was who he met that would have an impact on his life going forward.
Gene Toot was part of that entourage that traveled to the Middle East in 1994, and his presence was likely felt by everyone who was part of that excursion. Gene certainly left a lasting impression on Steve.
“He was delightful to travel with,” Steve recalled. “He was kind and gentle. He was thoughtful of the other people on the trip. He was not only not a problem at any point, he was an asset at several points. He was friendly, cheerful and got along with everybody. He was helpful without ever being intrusive.”
These are characteristics that anyone who knew Gene well would say he had. Gene, a longtime pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church of East Liverpool, OH, who was connected to the community in more ways than being a pastor, passed away Nov. 17. He was 96.
Steve got to know Gene better when, in 2006, Steve was called to lead Trinity Presbyterian Church. Gene was the pastor emeritus there, having served that congregation for 34 years before retiring in 1995. (The Trinity and Long’s Run congregations, the latter of which Steve also served for 11 years as part of a shared pastorate, would eventually merge in 2018 to become Long’s Run Trinity Presbyterian Church.)
“He was probably my greatest asset when I was a pastor,” Steve said. “I would freely turn to him for advice on many things. He did all the right things of a retired pastor. He never did a funeral or a wedding unless I asked him to. He supported me always.
“You hear horror stories of some retired pastors frustrating their successors. That was never, ever, ever Gene. He was always supportive, always helpful.”
Ian Leyda is the current pastor at Long’s Run Trinity Church, joining the congregation five years ago as Gene continued in his retirement role. Ian agreed with Steve that Gene never overstepped his bounds as Ian learned the ropes.
“He was very intentional about being pastor emeritus,” Ian said. “I was ordained into that church. He let me be his pastor when I was greener than a tea leaf.”
After graduating from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Gene served the Hopedale and Annapolis congregations for seven years before beginning his 34-year run at Trinity. He would complete his Doctorate of Ministry at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1980.
“He had a deep and profound faith,” Steve said. “He had a gentle soul. He genuinely cared about people, even people who may have given him some trouble at some point in his ministry. He tried to understand them and minister to them, and he encouraged me to do the same. He always had good insights.”
“The earlier portion of his life in ministry,” Ian added, “was primarily focused on youth and building the infrastructure of youth groups in church. That was his passion for a long time.”
Being a leader of the youth is how Sue Densmore became acquainted with Gene when he arrived at Trinity.
“We were the Baby Boomers,” Sue recalled. “We were a large church back when East Liverpool had more people in it. He came just in time because he took charge of the youth group when we were a really large group. He had a wonderful personality for that. He was patient.”
Mike Parks stands with Gene Toot, who was a “master grower” of dahlias.
Among his most well-known contributions to the community was the annual Easter Pageant on the Hillside at Trinity Church that ran for nearly 25 years, ending when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020. Occurring on Palm Sunday and the Saturday before Easter in the church’s parking lot and nearby hillside, this production detailed the Easter story to the thousand or more people who turned out every year.
“The parking lot would be full,” Steve recalled. “Even in a bad year there would be 700 people. He wrote the script. The first few years it was very simple and involved very few people. At the end, there were more than 100 people from the church and community that put this on.”
At the mid council level, Gene called the very first Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery meeting to order in 1973 and was instrumental in the presbytery joining the Synod of the Trinity instead of the Synod of the Covenant, which includes the rest of Ohio in its region. Elsewhere, he served on the board and was a founding member of Beaver Creek Presbyterian Church Camp and was instrumental in the Ohio Valley YMCA purchasing the camp in 2023 since Gene was also deeply involved with the YMCA.
“That was a place that was very special to him,” Steve said of Beaver Creek Camp.
Aside from Gene’s involvement with the church, he was known for being well-rounded. Besides the YMCA, Gene was also involved with the local Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and many other area organizations. A “master grower” of dahlias, Gene was also an avid sports fan, playing slow-pitch softball and bowling in community leagues for decades while competing in ping pong and basketball at the Senior Olympics. In 2000, Gene was named one of the 100 Outstanding Citizens of Columbiana County of the 20th Century.
“He was just seen widely as a prominent member of the community, not just the church,” Steve said.
“He was a founder of institutions – of the Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery, of the Chamber of Commerce,” Ian added. “One of the things that occurred to me was that I learned most of that stuff from his obituary. I knew those things, they just weren’t part of our relationship. He was an unassuming guy.
“He was a friendly guy to be around. He had a lot of depth. He was a sports fan, a sports nut. He was truly a universal guy, meaning he was very well read in many subjects – politics, philosophy, theology and Ohio State football.”
Sue described Gene as having a “very deep and solid” faith. She continued, “He was a very competitive sportsman. That’s not something that struck me as consistent. Those are just two different realms. It’s fun to think of him in all his different aspects. That was one I didn’t get to see myself.
“He was an interesting man in so many facets of his life,” she added. “He was fun to know in ways, but a very serious man.”
Sue praised Ian for his tribute to Gene during the funeral on Nov. 22.
“We heard about the real man without turning him into a plaster saint,” she said. “It was the truest reflection of him that I could have wanted in a service.”
Gene Toot stands with Peggy and Tom Charlton on their 50th wedding anniversary.
It all adds up to a man who played many different roles in the East Liverpool community and, because of his well-roundedness, was everything from a pastor to a fellow board member to a teammate to a friend.
“I’ll miss his quiet presence,” Steve said. “He had a wonderful smile and such a kind heart. He cared so deeply about the church and the faith.”
“The text that comes into my mind,” when thinking about Gene, Ian said, “is Philippians 2 – He emptied himself. By that I mean he was a formidable person, but you didn’t know it. He would meet you where you were and relate to people in a very authentic and true way. He brought the part of himself that relates to people in the best kind of way.
“He was a very loving man, and he was a pastor – pastoral in every sense. He was an institutional builder on the one hand but that was the scaffolding for the pastoral to live.”
For Sue, Gene led the funeral service for her father when she was a teen and later performed her wedding ceremony. Gene also took her to her first Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, a passion she credits him for instilling in her. They still talked about baseball until his final days.
“He and I were in the East Liverpool Rotary together for many years,” she said. “Even in his retirement, he was still a big part of my life, which was wonderful. Over the last number of years, I’ve thought of him as one of the pillars of my life. And then I’ve thought over this last week that he was more like a lighthouse.
“He was well loved in this town. I will say he’s one of those who’s not replaceable.”
The Synod of the Trinity is thankful for Gene’s work and service to the region and sends condolences to his family and friends.