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Department mourns former deputy
By JOE GORMAN
YOUNGSTOWN
Those who worked with him said former Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Lewis “Bo” Bonace was like a second father.
Bonace, who had been a supervisor at the county jail and retired from the department in 2011 after more than 25 years of service, died Sunday of leukemia at age 71.
His former colleagues said Monday that they never worked for a better supervisor. “He’s a legend,” said deputy Marcie Morton.
“This is a big blow to all of us,” added deputy Kent Thornton.
Bonace’s daughter, Sherri Spitler, also is a deputy and said her father was well-loved because of the way he treated the people he worked with.
“He thought of everybody as his children,” Spitler said.
She said he was able to stay well-liked in a profession that can sometimes harden people because he always stayed on an even keel, and that included the loss of two daughters, each of whom had died from a rare, genetic disorder.
“He never sweated the small stuff,” Spitler said. “His greatest joy was to go to work. He treated everybody the way he wanted to be treated. He didn’t think he was better than anybody.”
Thornton said he joined the department at 22 and Bonace was the perfect person to help him break in. He said when he made a mistake his first week Bonace didn’t yell at him, but made light of the mistake.
“He worked with you,” Thornton said. “He didn’t just tell you what to do. He jumped in.”
“He just looked out for everybody,” added deputy William Horn.
Deputy James King said Bonace treated everyone equally.
“Everybody was the same,” King said. “He would never holler at you or belittle you.”
Sheriff Jerry Greene said Bonace was well-liked and respected.
“I can easily say Sgt. Bonace was probably the most-respected supervisor I’ve ever had the pleasure of working for and with,” Greene said.
Greene said the most important thing he learned from Bonace was the way he handled different people.
Deputy Lisa Beam said everyone was treated with respect, including inmates, when Bonace was working. She said people wanted to be around him.
“People loved to work for him,” Beam said. “I try to do everything he does. He set the tone.”
And Bonace always had his own personal calling card: The Polo cologne he was fond of wearing. Those who worked with him said it was easy to know Bonace was on the job because they could smell his cologne. It was one of the things people were chuckling about Monday as they remembered him.
“It was just his smell,” Beam said. “You knew when he was on the elevator before you.”
Spitler said as her father passed away at Hospice he was wearing his favorite cologne and he will not be buried empty handed.
“He has a bottle going with him,” Spitler said.