“He was very dedicated to his students,” she said. “He once helped a student to get an electric piano so that he could continue his musical work.
“It seems we couldn’t go anywhere without students coming up to him saying, ‘Remember me?’ and he always did, always had a story to tell about them.”
Hamilton High School Principal Dennis Malone worked with Diver for several years at Garfield Middle School.
“He was a very gifted artist and musician,” he recalled. “Woodcarving, painting, sculpture, he did just about everything.
“He was a low-key guy who knew his subject material,” Malone said. “I always enjoyed talking to him. He could talk about all kinds of things.”
Fellow art teacher Sue Samoviski said most of his students remembered him as the art teacher who would take out his guitar and provide background music as they worked on their art projects.
Diver was a regular performer on “The Mike McGuire” show on TV Hamilton in the mid-1980s.
“In the days before karaoke, he was one of the first guys I ever saw who would play guitar and sing with recorded backing tracks,” Mike McGuire said. “I don’t think I saw anybody do that before him.”
Diver retired from teaching in 2000 due to health issues, but he continued to play music as much as he was able, even after he started dialysis in 2005.
“He kept living,” his wife said. “He kept performing until 2007 and kept up his art work.”
Visitation is 9 a.m. Saturday at the Baker-Stevens-Parramore Funeral Home, 1500 Manchester Ave. in Middletown. A Celebration of Life service follows at 11 a.m.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the American Kidney Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, 2200 Victory Parkway, Suite 510, Cincinnati, OH 45206, or the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 2680, North Canton, OH 47720.
About the Author