Person:Paul Conkling (1)

ATHENS, Ohio — Paul Leighton Conkling, 83, passed away Friday morning in his home. He was born July 29, 1927, in Marion to the late Roscoe B. and Olive Cleo Green Conkling. Conkling was a professor emeritus of music at Ohio University. Professor Conklin developed a love for music and the cello at a young age. Even as a child, he accompanied, on the cello, his older brother, who played the violin. He was a graduate of Marion High School and enlisted in the Navy after high school. At the end of World War II, he worked with radio repair at RCA before attending Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. He graduated from Northwestern with both bachelor and master's degrees of music. During graduate school, he taught cello at Lawrence University, Wis. He began his long tenure at Ohio University in 1952, retiring in 1992. He taught cello, bass and chamber music at Ohio University. He also taught part-time at Denison University, Granville, Ohio, and summers in the string programs at Put-In-Bay, Ohio. Professor Conkling was a member of and had played with several symphonies and orchestras, including Lakeside Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Huntington Symphony and Springfield Symphony. He also performed with the Juilliard Quartet and the Athenian Trio. Survivors include his wife and children.

He also was preceded in death by a brother, Edgar C. Conkling.

Private family services will be at a later date. Internment of ashes will be in Grant Memorial Park, Marion.