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William VanSuch, former Campbell mayor, dies at 76
By Sarah Lehr
CAMPBELL
Friends remember William J. VanSuch, former Campbell mayor, for his decades of public service.
He died early Thursday at age 76.
VanSuch became mayor in January 2011 after the resignation of George Krinos.
VanSuch was elected mayor for the first time in November 2011 and won another two-year term in 2013.
In 2015, he lost his final mayoral bid to Nick Phillips.
Several colleagues said that campaign was a testament to VanSuch’s dedication to the city, since he sought another term despite mounting health problems.
“Campbell was his heart,” said Pamela Planey, VanSuch’s fiancee. “You could always come to him to raise money for things, especially if it was for the children. That got to his heartstrings.”
A Campbell native, VanSuch graduated from Campbell Memorial High School in 1959 and went on to serve eight years in the Ohio National Guard, according to a candidate questionnaire submitted to The Vindicator.
VanSuch has three children: Kathi Klimas, Christine Bonamase and Bill VanSuch Jr.
Friends describe VanSuch as a family man, who spoke enthusiastically about the baptisms and first communions of his grandchildren.
He was a parishioner at St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church and was actively involved with its men’s club.
Judie Clement, who worked in VanSuch’s administration as a secretary and later as city administrator, remembers how VanSuch would pepper conversations with Slovak phrases he learned from his mother.
As a politician, VanSuch spent much of his time hunched over his desk with a spreadsheet, a highlighter, a calculator and a ruler, Campbell Law Director Brian Macala recalled.
“Billy was very good with the numbers,” Macala said. “He was very much on the budget and was looking closely at every dime.”
VanSuch, a Democrat, broke into city politics in 1974 as 2nd Ward councilman. He was council president from 1990 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2011.
VanSuch enjoyed keeping fastidious notes on council’s votes, in the same way that others like keeping score at a baseball game, Macala said.
Macala said VanSuch kept a “cool demeanor” throughout contentious public meetings. His tenure saw its share of public outcry, like when a gentleman’s club opened on Wilson Avenue or when then-Mayor Jack Dill tried unsuccessfully to sell the city water plant.
VanSuch oversaw the city’s exit from fiscal emergency in 2013. Ohio auditors placed the city under fiscal emergency in 2004. The designation involved tight state oversight of city finances.
In many ways, VanSuch’s political career spanned disparate eras for the city.
He first took office four years before the demise of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., a major local employer that closed in 1979 on a day known as Black Monday. In 1970, Campbell’s population was more than 12,000 people; now, it’s closer to 8,000.
“You lose a connection to your past when somebody like this passes,” Macala said. “He had a remarkable run.”
Memorial services have not yet been announced.