Michael C. Clemente, former Struthers school board member, dies

Staff report

STRUTHERS

Atty. Michael C. Clemente, former Struthers school board president, died Tuesday at age 90 after a long illness.

Clemente helped establish the Struthers Rotary Club and was a founding member of the St. Nicholas chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

He graduated from Struthers High School in 1944, having been a debate team and band member and a cheerleader.

He joined the Navy at 17, serving from 1944 through 1946. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Miami University in 1950, having belonged to Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and then earned a juris doctorate from University of Michigan in 1953.

He passed the bar exam in 1953, establishing a family law practice in Struthers, where he worked for almost 60 years before retiring in 2011. A lifetime member of the Mahoning County and Ohio State Bar associations, Clemente spoke at numerous local Memorial Day events.

T. Gordon Welsh of Boardman, retired Mahoning County Common Pleas Court administrator, said of his contemporary, “He was very much an attorney’s attorney. He conducted his business and took care of his clients, and he was always thoroughly prepared for court.” Welsh added, “What a lovely, kindly, pleasant man he was. He always cheered us up.”

Poland resident Gene McCarragher, a past president of St. Vincent de Paul and a longtime Christ Our Savior member, said of Clemente, “As St. Vincent de Paul treasurer, he was both wise and generous. He was a good steward with the money. ... He took a personal interest in the people he helped,” he said, recalling that Clemente and the others went to the homes of the needy and that Clemente always followed up to see if they required additional assistance.

Clemente had been elected to the Struthers Board of Education, serving two terms as president.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday in Christ Our Savior Church, the former St. Nicholas Church, Struthers.

He leaves his wife, Ellen; six children; 14 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Clemente Funeral Home, Struthers, and 9 to 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home. A prayer service will take place immediately after calling hours Sunday.