Hail Miriam Fife for advancing rights of victims in Valley, state

Mention Miriam Fife, and many longtime Mahoning Valley residents will readily recognize her as the loving mother of 12-year-old Raymond Fife, a fun- loving boy who was senselessly attacked, sodomized, set afire and killed 30 years ago while riding his bicycle to a Boy Scouts meeting.

Over the ensuing three decades, however, Miriam Fife also has earned a compassionate and rock-solid legacy as a mother of the progressive and aggressive victim-rights movement in Northeast Ohio. As she officially retires this month from her professional career as an advocate at the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office’s Victim/Witness Assistance Division, we salute her unwavering commitment to helping thousands of victims’ families and friends cope with heartbreaking tragedy and to rebuilding their shattered lives.

In channeling part of her personal grief and her tenacious quest for justice toward others, she has left an indelible imprint on the quality of life for thousands of survivors in the region and on the fairness of the criminal justice system throughout Ohio.

As Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge W. Wyatt McKay put it, “Her ability to identify with crime victims is incomparable because she is the ultimate crime victim herself.”

Indeed, the anger and frustration over the grisly mutilation death of her son and over her later discovery that assailant Danny Lee Hill had committed two rapes but roamed free to pillage and kill ignited her zeal to assist survivors of crime victims, particularly youthful victims.

A LONG, SUCCESSFUL CAREER

Her long and distinguished career took her daily to the halls of the Trumbull County Courthouse where she counseled and lent support to victims of violent crimes, accompanied them to court and parole hearings, helped them to prepare victim-impact statements, and referred them to appropriate social service agencies.

Her long and distinguished career also carried her to the halls of the Ohio Statehouse where she argued before legislators that victims of offenses committed by juveniles be permitted to speak at the offenders’ trial and sentencing. That appeal and others on behalf of victims and their survivors ultimately worked their way into state law.

Her long and distinguished career also has taken her to countless vigils, flag-raising ceremonies and other memorials to honor individuals whose lives were snuffed out far too soon by violence. Off the job, her outreach extended to establishing the Trumbull County Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children. Each time a person under 18 dies from violence, she raises the Victim’s Flag in front of the Trumbull County Jail.

True to form, she participated in a recent vigil for a young Hubbard man found shot to death in that city March 7. Retired or not, Fife’s passion for compassion still works overtime.

Despite her official retirement, Fife reassures all that she will still be on call whenever needed to raise that flag. She will still be on call to offer her expertise, comfort and support to others who can benefit immensely from it. And she will still be there to assist others in their grieving process. For Fife, that process will mark 30 years this Sept. 12. Today, one of her son’s assailants is serving a life sentence while the other has successfully fought off for 29 years his date with the executioner in Lucasville.

Now after investing nearly half of her life tirelessly fighting for justice, it’s time that Fife be recognized in her own right. We recommend a resolution of distinguished service from the Ohio General Assembly be drafted and quickly adopted. Her name also should receive a prominent place of honor for years and decades to come, perhaps permanently affixed to the flagpole in downtown Warren that stands as a tangible symbol of her constructive impact. Regardless of what avenue may be taken, it’s clear that one state proclamation or one flagpole plaque could never adequately do justice to the impact that Miriam Fife has had on her long and successful journey toward giving victims and their survivors a much stronger voice in the Valley and beyond.