Leo Toscano’s 81 years of life have taken him as far away as war-torn Japan and close to the heart with the loss of his only son. But Toscano’s positivity and his relentless desire to live every moment to its fullest have taken him all the way home and back to school again, where he currently puts his soul into singing in the SF State choir.

The San Francisco native was on his way to a high school graduation in the mid-1940s, but at 17, he chose to leave school after his junior year to join the US Navy where he served aboard a destroyer, the USS Van Valkenburgh.

“As a young kid, we were all wrapped around the war,” said the World War II veteran. “That’s all you heard about. And I wanted to be a John Wayne or something like that.”

Toscano’s service in the Pacific took him to the coast of China and to the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. His ship was attacked several times by the Imperial Navy’s kamikaze suicide fighters, and the young man had to learn about death very quickly.

“I lost a few friends,” he said. “The thing that was striking is that we had to bury them at sea. I’d never seen that before. We didn’t have time to mourn, we were just so busy.”

Another difficult sight for Toscano were the ruins of Nagasaki. In 1945, one month after the drop (of the second atomic bomb on Aug. 9). Several officers took photographs of the demolished city, some of which were later given to Toscano.

Toscano keeps up with his Navy buddies at regular reunions. He said he was surprised by the change in everyone’s appearance, but overjoyed to see old friends after the passing of 60 years. He added he loves that the reunions are held in different parts of the country, allowing him to travel the U.S. and experience locations he has never seen before.

After he was discharged at 19, Toscano attended a high school for veterans, where he completed his senior year. He went on to study piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, but had to drop out due to a relapse of a “shell concussion” he suffered during his service.

After a head operation and over a month of recovery in the hospital, Toscano studied briefly at the conservatory of music in Mexico City, but returned to the states to help his ailing grandfather. Toscano’s burning desire for higher education in his childhood passion became harder to achieve, especially after he married and had six children.

Toscano worked as a clerk in the traffic department of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company for about 40 years. In addition to working and raising the children with his wife, Toscano played piano at night with a group, leaving him with no time for formal education.

Toscano said he worked night and day “to be able to do the best I could for the family. So that kept me real busy, but I never lost sight of coming back to school.”

With the encouragement of his family, Toscano did return to school, achieved his goal of earning a bachelor’s degree in music at SF State in 1992. Now divorced and with all his children grown and married, Toscano lives alone, so he says he sees SF State as his home. He has been singing bass in the choir for at least 10 years.

Choir leader David J. Xiques describes Toscano as “dedicated, musical, enthusiastic, and a delightfully joyful person.” He said that Toscano even attended choir practice after the Aug 31 death of his only son, Michael, 51.

“He was in the midst of planning the funeral and showed up to rehearsal,” Xiques said. “He said that life goes on. I hope all my younger students will look to Leo [and] be inspired by [him], by [his] dedication to hard work, and the joy of music-making.”

Sara Ganz, a lecturer in the School of Music and Dance, met Toscano at SF State in February of 1998. She said her first impression of him was that “he had one of the most radiant smiles I’d ever seen,” and that Toscano has always been supportive of her and her son during difficult times.

“Leo clearly loves music,” Ganz said. “He treats it with respect, as he does all those who come in contact with him.”

Toscano has lived an extremely full life and doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. He is a grandfather of 11 and great-grandfather of four and hopes to qualify for a Master’s Degree in the near future. His choir is currently preparing for a concert at noon on Oct. 29 in Knuth Hall.

Toscano never gave up on his hopes to pursue an education in music, even when it seemed impossible.

“What I’m trying to do now is make up for lost time,” he said. “I don’t know if I will or not, but I can try.”

Additional reporting by Sonia Tydingco, [X]press staff producer