Fitzer remembered for moral convictions

The lifelong Youngstown-area resident was a community watchdog.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Robert Fitzer was a man of conviction, who spent a portion of his life attacking corruption in the Mahoning Valley, his friends said.

He even went so far as to crouch behind pine trees outside Anthony’s on the River in 2001, with binoculars in hand, to determine if Mahoning and Trumbull politicians were attending a questionable meeting.

Fitzer, 50, who died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday, spent his last years, however, focusing on his music. He was an accomplished clarinetist and an instructor at Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music.

Fitzer was best known as the co-host of the WYSU-FM half-hour weekly “Commentary Cafe” from 1995 to 2001. He took it to heart when Steve Katzman, an assistant U.S. attorney, said that the area was “fertile soil for corruption” and that citizens needed to “tend the soil.”

Tarnished

Unfortunately, Fitzer’s good work on the radio show and with the Citizens League of Greater Youngstown was overshadowed by the reaction to the 2001 event at Anthony’s, said Tom Zamary, who worked with Fitzer on the Citizens League.

Fitzer was found writing down names of politicians and others who entered the restaurant during a monthly luncheon organized by Anthony Cafaro, president of the Cafaro Co. Youngstown Mayor George McKelvey called police when he spotted Fitzer outside the restaurant, and a debate ensued about the propriety of Fitzer’s actions.

“It’s sad that some people only remember that,” Zamary said.

“He was a good man,” he said, calling Fitzer a man with great moral courage who paid a price for it.

His radio show

Gary Sexton, director at WYSU-FM and program manager during most of the years of “Commentary Cafe,” said the show with Dr. William Binning, chairman of YSU’s political science department, offered a platform for local officials, media, business people and the head of the FBI to discuss the corruption activities of local officials.

The conviction of various officials, such as judges, a sheriff, a prosecutor and others took place during that time period, he said.

“He really wanted the community to be better, and he knew it wouldn’t happen if corruption were not exposed,” Sexton said of Fitzer.

“He kind of saw himself as a community watchdog — sometimes in conventional ways and sometimes in unconventional ways,” Sexton said, referring to the Anthony’s incident.

“He knew that local corruption was a major obstacle to progress and improvement, and he selflessly did what he could to expose it,” Sexton said. “Commentary Cafe was truly a labor of love for Bob. He wasn’t paid, and he put in hours of preparation every week for the half-hour show.”

Compassion

Cathy Grizinski, associate director of the Help Hotline Crisis Center of Youngstown, knew Fitzer as a sensitive, compassionate man who seemed to understand the pain of those who are disenfranchised.

She felt that the early death of his parents, James and Dolores Fitzer, contributed to that sensitivity. Like their son, they were Dana School faculty.

For several years, ending around 1989, Fitzer was a volunteer call taker for the hot line. Grizinski said he seemed to be motivated by the same desire for justice for callers to the hot line as for victims of corruption.

“He was a justice seeker for people who did not have advantages in the community,” she said. “You can get lost in the system when you don’t have that person to speak for you.”

Fitzer was a lifelong Youngstown-area resident. He served on the faculty at Dana since 1996 and was director of the clarinet studies program.

A private family service is planned, and a public memorial service planned for late July.

runyan@vindy.com