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Sculptor of ‘Steelworker’ in Niles dies at 95
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Sidney Rackoff, who created a massive metal sculpture of a steel worker that has become a Mahoning Valley landmark, died Sunday at age 95 in Beachwood, where he lived (obituary, page A7).
Rackoff’s 20-foot-tall sculpture titled “The Steelworker” has stood at the entrance to Niles Iron and Metal Co.’s scrapyard on state Route 46 in Niles for two decades. Like much of his work, Rackoff made the piece out of scrap he found at the business.
Born in 1919 in Maine, Rackoff fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II and received a Purple Heart.
He was a steel worker at Youngstown Sheet & Tube when he was in his 20s. At about age 50, he was ordained a rabbi and served in several cities until he was 83. He took up art at age 60 and created more than 70 major pieces of art, some of which are permanently displayed at buildings in the region.
Rackoff built “The Steelworker” over a six-month period at the scrap-metal company’s maintenance shop, finishing it in 1993.
Rackoff excelled at painting and ceramics before finding his niche as scrap-metal sculptor, said his son, David, of Florida. His primary theme was working men and women.
“He would walk through a scrapyard looking for pieces with potential,” said David. “He would say, ‘Look at them and they will start talking to you.’”
David mentioned two pieces of his father’s art that stand out. The first is “The Runner,” perhaps his most famous piece, a sculpture that was part of an exhibition of his work at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.
Another is titled “They Could Have Been Friends.” It depicts the outlines of two fallen soldiers who had just bayoneted each other to death. “Dad always talked about the war and it came out in some of his art,” said David.