Donald M. Henry, a multilingual teacher who served the culture and cuisine of France and Germany with his high school language lessons, died Monday in his Monclova Township home. He was 75.

He had multiple health problems, including diabetes, heart and kidney failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife, Mary Ann, said.

Mr. Henry retired in 2005 after 22 years teaching French and German at Libbey High School. Afterward, he taught part time for several years at the University of Findlay.

He presented students the fundamentals — the words, the grammar of the languages — realizing that the range of abilities in any class might be wide, his wife said. Some students through the years received Ohio Foreign Language Association scholarships to language summer camp.

“He wished to impart his enthusiasm for the languages and the countries to the students and bring something to them that was not in their life,” his wife said.

In the Libbey homecoming parade, his students carried balloons in the colors representing the countries whose languages they studied. Every week, he served students culture, sometimes by making crepes or passing around croissants or ham-and-cheese baguettes.

“He wanted to try to make it fun for them,” his wife said. Former students who ran into him said, “‘Oh, we remember the crepes! The baguettes!’ ” his wife said. “He’d love it. ‘Of all the things I taught them in language, they remembered the food.’ That’s what he was trying to do — get them to remember something. He tried to do the best for the kids, to open the universe for them.”

His enthusiasm extended to conferences for language teachers, where he packed his schedule with sessions to attend.

“He was always ready to learn,” said Debbie Sehlmeyer, who taught Spanish at Bowsher and the former Macomber-Whitney Vocational Technical high schools. “His colleagues were amazed at how dedicated he was to the languages.”

He also furthered his studies in Quebec, France, and Germany. For several years, he and his wife offered classes for Toledo Public Schools staff that combined, for instance, French cuisine and the art of Monet.

Mr. Henry knew Russian, which he learned courtesy of the Army and its Monterey, Calif., language school. He was a Russian interpreter while stationed in West Germany. He’d taken classes in Polish, Chinese, and Spanish.

He was born May 12, 1940, in Indianapolis to Ida and Thomas Henry and was a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School there. He received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, a master’s of German from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s of French from UT. He also taught at UT for a time.

Surviving are his wife, Mary Ann Henry, whom he married May 11, 1985, and his twin brother, Ronald Henry.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. today at the Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, Maumee, with a Scripture service at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. Joseph Church, Maumee.

The family suggests tributes to the American Heart Association, the American Kidney Foundation, or the Toledo Area Humane Society.

Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.

First Published September 2, 2015, 4:00 a.m.