Valley steel marketing chief to speak on career

Staff report

LIBERTY

Bill Farragher, the Youngstown native who was the project manager of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and who created the well-known Youngstown Sheet and Tube logo, will share his memories at 10 a.m. Saturday in the meeting room of Kravitz Deli, 3135 Belmont Ave.

Farragher’s address is part of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society’s Memories of a Lifetime lecture series.

The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served, and a good-will offering will be accepted to benefit the society. A raffle will take place. Reservations are required; call Richard S. Scarsella, society chairman, at 330-726-8277. Walk-ins will be admitted based upon seat availability.

The world-famous Gateway Arch was built as a monument to Thomas Jefferson and St. Louis’ role in the westward expansion of the United States. Ground was broken in 1963, and the monument completed in 1965.

Farragher was chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute committee assigned to build the arch. His responsibilities included the construction schedule, the delivery of steel on time and the production of a film showing the construction of the arch. The film is still shown today at the monument and covers the years 1933 to 1968.

Farragher, who currently lives in Canfield, is a graduate of South High School and Ohio Wesleyan University. He pursued graduate studies at Kenyon College, where he was a Rockefeller Scholar, and the University of Madison, where he was a teaching assistant.

He held the positions of director of marketing for both Youngstown Sheet and Tube and Magnecord Corp. and marketing manager of McDonald Steel Corp. He also was founder of Farragher Marketing Communications and professor of marketing at what is now Youngstown State University.

Farragher is best known for the iconic design and implementation of a marketing campaign for the Youngstown Sheet and Tube trademark, which depicted an open-hearth blast furnace orange and black bucket, similar to one used in the steelmaking process. The symbol is now used by the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum.

Farragher also was a consultant for Wean United affiliates and visited steel mills around the world, for which the company engineered major facilities. A longtime member of the American Iron & Steel Institute, he knew the Youngstown area steel industry leaders personally.

Farragher is a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Youngstown, and was married for 59 years to the former Arden Smith. He raised four children and one foster son.