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Edna Pincham dies of cancer
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown lost a “trailblazer” and a “community icon” with the death of Edna D. Pincham, her family, friends and admirers said.
Pincham was the first woman and black person to be named to the Youngstown mayor’s cabinet, serving 12 years as then-Mayor Patrick Ungaro’s administrative aide.
She also was the first black woman elected to the city’s board of education, serving on it for 16 years.
Pincham was the first and only black woman to run for mayor of Youngstown, losing to George M. McKelvey in the 1997 Democratic primary.
“She was such a trailblazer,” said Councilwoman Janet Tarpley, D-6th, a black woman. “If it hadn’t have been for her, I wouldn’t be here [as a councilwoman] today.”
Pincham, 72, died Wednesday afternoon at Hospice of the Valley in Boardman after a battle with cancer, Howard Pincham Jr., her son, said.
Funeral arrangements weren’t finalized as of late Wednesday.
Her son, who lives in Cleveland, as well as her husband, Howard Sr., and her daughter, Cynthia Mason of Warren, were by her side when she died.
“Her love for her family, her love for her church and her friends, and especially for Christ strengthened her through all of this,” her son said. “She died quietly and comfortably surrounded by her family.”
She was born in Quitman, Ga., near the Florida border, and moved to Youngstown in the early 1950s, her son said.
Pincham was elected to the city school board in 1983.
“She was a great educator and was highly respected,” said Lock P. Beachum Sr., the board’s vice president who spent two years on the board with Pincham. Beachum was a building principal during much of Pincham’s time on the board.
“She was an icon,” he said.
In January 1986, two years after first being elected Youngstown mayor, Ungaro hired Pincham as his administrative aide.
Ungaro said Wednesday that Pincham “was a saint. She was a great person. We had a long journey together through a rough, rough time. She was a very sensitive and compassionate person.”
Ungaro said he often turned to Pincham for advice, assistance and support.
“I couldn’t have done it without her,” he said.
Term limits forced Ungaro to not seek re-election in 1997.
Pincham ran for mayor that year, losing the Democratic primary to McKelvey, who ended up serving eight years as mayor.
“She was a community icon,” said Jay Williams, Youngstown’s mayor, the first black person elected to the job. “I wouldn’t be [mayor] if it wasn’t for her. She was a real trailblazer.”
After losing to McKelvey, she and her family turned her campaign office on West Federal Street into the Pincham Initiative Resource Center.
The center was a volunteer organization that helped children pass the Ohio Graduation Test with a nearly 100 percent graduation rate.
Only a month ago, the Ohio Department of Aging and the General Assembly honored her as one of 13 inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
“Ms. Pincham has given her heart, her time and her resources to community volunteerism,” Barbara E. Riley, director of the department of aging, said when honoring her.
At the time, Pincham said, “Service should be given freely, and no matter how difficult it is when you are doing it, at the end of the day, it’s a good feeling. It’s also a good feeling when people notice what you do.”
Among her many other honors were:
- Youngstown YMCA’s 1983 Woman of the Year.
- Youngstown Area Jaycees’ 1987 Frank Purnell Memorial Award.
- Induction into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993 by then-Gov. George V. Voinovich.
- Youngstown State University Public Service Institute’s 1999 public service award winner.
skolnick@vindy.com
XStaff writer William K. Alcorn contributed to this story.