Youngstown biographies

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Franz Bibo

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Franz Bibo, “Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Celebrating 90 Years,” special insert to The Vindicator, September 11, 2016.

I remember two conductors of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. One was John Krueger, the conductor who led the children’s concerts we attended as elementary school children at Stambaugh Auditorium (it was actually called the Youngstown Philharmonic in those days). The other was Franz Bibo, who led the orchestra from 1965 to 1980. I had classical musician friends during college and went to a number of symphony performances during this time. Student seats were cheap! Franz Bibo conducted most of these including an amazing performance of the Nutcracker What I had not realized was what an accomplished musician he was and what a pivotal role he played in the Youngstown Symphony’s history and Youngstown’s cultural life.

Mr. Bibo was born in Germany in 1922. He came to the United States in 1946, becoming an American citizen. [Several readers  of this article who knew Bibo gave eyewitness accounts of Bibo showing them the serial numbers tattooed on his arm that marked him as an Auschwitz survivor.] He studied at the Mannes Music School in New York City, at New York University, and the Juilliard School. By 1948, he was on the music faculty of Brooklyn College. He was also the assistant conductor of the City Symphony Orchestra of New York, an orchestra of mostly amateur musicians founded by Leopold Prince, a New York City judge. When Prince died in 1951, Bibo took over as conductor and led the orchestra for ten years. In 1955, he was one of three conductors chosen to share a Rockefeller study grant of $49,500, a major sum at this time and a distinct honor.

In 1961, Bibo moved to Ohio, joining the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as conductor of the Oberlin Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera. Oberlin is a highly recognized school to this day and Bibo had the opportunity to work with talented musicians. Musical organizations establish their reputation in part by touring. A story in the March 15, 1964 Vindicator announced that Bibo and the orchestra would be performing at Stambaugh Auditorium as part of a tour performing concerts in Hartford, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Youngstown, Buffalo, and Cleveland. The article notes that it was believed that this was the first undergraduate student orchestra tour of its kind. The New York Times reviewer for their New York appearance, performing the same program, noted their “lovely natural phrasing and tone that kept beautifying the performances all evening.”

In retrospect, this may have served as an early audition for the position as conductor of the Youngstown Symphony. In 1965, John Krueger, battling colon cancer, stepped down. Bibo was selected to be the new conductor. For the first time “Maestro” was used to refer to him. One of his contributions was to stage locally produced operas. He and his wife Jacqueline, a concert pianist and musical director for a number of groups, moved to Youngstown and embraced the city.

It was during his tenure that the Youngstown Symphony, through a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Powers, saved the old Warner Theatre from demolition and restored it to its glory. Bibo played an active role in the restoration work as you can see from this picture:

The Vindicator, March 4, 1969.

The new facility opened September 20, 1969 with a gala performance of “Die Fledermaus” conducted by Maestro Bibo.

Bibo led the orchestra for twelve seasons. He hired musicians from outside Youngstown, raising the standards of the orchestra. He was succeeded by Peter Leonard in 1980. Franz Bibo passed away some time in 1986. Jacqueline continued to live in the Youngstown area and was actively involved in development work for Channels 45/49 and the Warren General Health Foundation as well as supporting other arts and community organizations including Opera Western Reserve. She lived until March 7, 2018 and was remembered in the Opera Western Reserve program for Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in November of that year.

Maestro Bibo brought all the training and artistic sophistication of New York and Oberlin to the city of Youngstown, introducing many to opera for the first time. He will always be remembered for leading the symphony in its move to and gala opening at Powers Auditorium and the belief that Youngstown could be a city known for great music and operatic performances. And his wife, Jacqueline, a great musician in her own right, carried forward that legacy. Bravissimo!

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — John DeMain

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John DeMain, Music Director, Madison Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Peter Rogers. Used with permission.

I’ve received many wonderful article ideas from friends who live or used to live in Youngstown. This idea came from a friend living outside of Madison, Wisconsin. He’s attends a number of the concerts of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He raves over the leadership their Music Director, John DeMain has given over the past thirty years of his tenure. He thought I should write about him because he grew up in Youngstown.

So I dug into Maestro DeMain’s story and discovered that his experiences in Youngstown established the whole arc of an amazing music career that included a Grammy and a Tony Award, premieres of several major works, as well as his many accomplishments with the Kenley Players, the Houston Grand Opera, a brief stint with the Youngstown Symphony, and his long and fruitful tenure in Madison, as well as numerous guest appearances with major orchestras throughout the world. So, I was surprised and delighted when he spent an hour this past week talking about his musical journey as a young man in Youngstown..

John DeMain grew up on the Southside of Youngstown, living on Southern Boulevard, just north of Midlothian. His musical career began at age two when he sang a boy soprano part in the Lady’s of Mount Carmel church choir. A solo for his kindergarten class led to him being featured in the Rotogravure section. He continued to sing and his parents decided to buy him a piano to develop his musical abilities. After three years with a piano teacher, he learned all she could teach. She connected him with Hermann Gruss and his wife Blanche, who continued his instruction after Hermann died, through high school.

As a young boy of nine, he performed as a singer in a joint Youngstown Symphony and Playhouse production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. He had early experiences of observing Michael Ficocelli, founder and first director of the Youngstown Symphony, and also diocese music director and John’s band teacher. John observed Ficocelli conducting and substituted for him when he was absent. He worked under Lillian Stambaugh who was the pianist for a production of Paint Your Wagon at the Youngstown Playhouse at age 13. The following year, at age fourteen, he conducted music with a pit orchestra for Brigadoon at the Playhouse. He spoke of “bossing around people old enough to be his grandparents…and loving it.” He did this for three years. During these years he also accompanied productions at Cardinal Mooney and briefly served as a rehearsal pianist at the Kenley Players. He also accompanied for opera students and was observed by Lawrence Lawler, a benefactor who took him to see the Met when they were in Cleveland

In the summer of his junior year, while a student at Cardinal Mooney, he entered a piano competition with the Youngstown Symphony, performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. He was amazed to find out that he won the competition, beating out a student from Juilliard and debuting with the Youngstown Symphony. He credits this as an important factor to winning admission at Juilliard with Adele Marcus, the teacher of the student who he beat out in the competition. He earned Bachelor’s and Masters Degrees from Juilliard. His time in New York exposed him to the vibrant New York and New England musical scene, including a chance to conduct The King and I. He also returned in the summer as assistant conductor for the Kenley Players. He then served as the Music Director for the Kenley Players from 1965 to 1975 and spoke glowingly of John Kenley. We realized that our paths had actually crossed. One of my high school dates was at the Kenley Players production of Man of La Mancha with Giorgio Tozzi. He directed that production and told me about the huge staircase designed by the set designer.

He went to serve as conductor of the Houston Grand Opera in 1975 and immediately became involved in one of the signature productions of his career, a staging of the full score of Porgy and Bess. After the initial 1935 production, much of the content and distinctly African-American and jazz influences were cut from the production. These were restored by the Houston Grand Opera and the result was that the 1976 recording, conducted by John DeMain, won Grammy, Tony and the French Grand Prix du Disque awards in 1976. When they brought the production to New York, Leonard Bernstein told DeMain that this was the Porgy and Bess production that he had waited forty years to hear. In all, he has performed the opera over four hundred times.

John DeMain told me that this was the musical achievement he was proudest of and mentioned two others. One was the premiere performance of John Adams Nixon in China in 1987 and the other, the premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s opera, A Quiet Place. DeMain’s work on Porgy so impressed Bernstein that he asked DeMain to conduct a new production of West Side Story, after which he wanted DeMain to premiere his opera.

It was during his time with the Houston Grand Opera that he also served as an Acting Music Director of the Youngstown Symphony, during the mid-1980’s. After seventeen years with the Houston Grand Opera, DeMain became the music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in 1994. At that time, the Orchestra played in the old Oscar Mayer Theatre and consisted of section chairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and student musicians. He instituted blind auditions, a standard practice in top professional orchestras and now draws players from throughout the country. He also led the orchestra in performances of the complete Mahler Symphony cycle.

In 2004, he helped open the new Overture Center for the Arts, home to nine different Madison arts organizations and an amazing Concert Organ. Maestro DeMain told me that he thinks the concert hall acoustics, already celebrated, continue to become more resonant as the wood in the hall seasons. The symphony will celebrate its 100th year in the 2025-26 season. DeMain, who just turned 80, announced that he will step down at the end of that season so that a new director can take the orchestra into its next century. As he prepares to step down, he leaves an organization that is fiscally sound and enjoys the largest arts endowment in Wisconsin.

He will continue to be involved for now as artistic director for the Madison Opera but also hopes to do some travel and teaching but does not anticipate another music director position. In January 2023, DeMain received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association.

John DeMain’s amazing career began in Youngstown. He was a childhood prodigy as singer and pianist. He was conducting ensembles before he was in high school, experiences that solidified for him his love of conducting, even though up to that time, he’d had little formal training. He’s achieved an amazing body of work and we may be justly proud of this musical director who began as a young man from the Southside of Youngstown.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Admiral Giles Bates Harber

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He grew up on the West side of Youngstown, received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from then-congressman James A. Garfield, mounted a heroic 2667 mile expedition to rescue a stranded polar expedition, was the Executive Officer on the USS Texas during the Spanish-American War, and rose to the command as Rear Admiral of the Pacific Fleet at a time when the U.S. was becoming a global naval power.

Despite all these accomplishments, I suspect few of us know of this distinguished naval officer who both was born and died in Youngstown. He was born September 24, 1849 to Joseph and Ann Eliza (Darrow) Harber. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1869, starting out as an Ensign on a sailing frigate, the USS Sabine., moving to a screw frigate, the USS Franklin, in the European squadron from 1870 to 1871. By 1881, he was in command of the torpedo boat, the USS Alarm.

In 1882, Lt. Harber was on a journey through Russia when called on to mount a rescue or recovery operation when the USS Jeanette, commanded by Lt. Commander George Washington DeLong, attempting to explore and lay claim to Arctic regions, became icebound. Leaving from Irkutsk in Siberia by steamer, Harber and his search party covered 2667 miles by boat, reindeer, and dogsled team. There were no survivors, but Harber and his party recovered the remains of ten men who perished, including the body of Lt.. Commander DeLong. When he returned in 1884, he received a hero’s welcome at a reception in the old Opera House on Central Square in Youngstown.

He married Jeanette Thruston Manning of Baltimore in 1889, the wedding reported in the New York Times. After a staff assignment at the Naval Academy and command of a US coastal steamer, Hassler, off the Alaska coast, he was promoted to Lt. Commander in 1896 and served as the Executive officer of the battleship USS Texas in Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish-American War, doing blockade duty. He was promoted to Commander and served as naval attaché in both Paris and St. Petersburg from 1900 to 1903. This was followed by command of the USS New Orleans, from 1903-1905, as part of the Asiatic Squadron, being promoted to Captain in 1905. After graduation in 1905 from the Naval War College, he commanded the USS Independence and the Mare Island Navy Yard from 1905 to 1907.

His crowning achievement was promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, heading the 3rd Squadron, and then the whole Pacific Fleet from 1907 to 1910. This was the time when American sea power was growing under President Theodore Roosevelt, symbolized by the Great White Fleet of sixteen battleships that circumnavigated the world. In his final year, before mandatory retirement at age 62 in 1911, he served as president of the Naval Examining and Retiring Boards in Washington, DC.

Harber and his wife lived in Washington until she passed away in September of 1925. He moved back to Youngstown, but soon followed her in death on December 29, 1925. He died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of a bladder infection. Both he and his wife are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Harber distinguished himself throughout life, holding posts and commands in Europe, East Asia, and Central America as well as over the whole Pacific Fleet. The recovery expedition could easily have shared the fate of the Jeanette. Instead, he brought his fellow seamen’s bodies home on an amazing journey. And Youngstown remembered and celebrated him. He also remembered Youngstown. He was the second depositor of the First National Bank in 1863 (at fourteen). On his death, it was found that he had remained a depositor all those years. And it was to Youngstown he returned and spent his final days. We can truly say he was a hometown hero.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Mayor Jack C. Hunter

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Mayor Jack C. Hunter in 1969 when elected for his first term as Youngstown’s Mayor, Youngstown Vindicator, November 5, 1969 via Google News Archive.

[This is a post about a historical public officeholder in Youngstown. Please don’t use this article for online debates about contemporary Youngstown or national politics.]

He was the only mayor of Youngstown I ever voted for, voting for him for his last two terms in office in 1973 and 1975. He is the only mayor in Youngstown history to complete four terms as of this date. And the mayor was a Republican in a city known at that time as a Democratic stronghold.

He was born March 13, 1930, growing up in Youngstown. A graduate of South High School, he served for four years with the Marine Corps, including a tour of duty during the Korean War as a sergeant. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Denver and a Master’s degree in political science from Kent State University. He taught at Youngstown State University and served as a trust officer and then a vice president at Mahoning National Bank, a position he held prior to and after his years as mayor.

For many years, he lived with his mother on Youngstown’s Southside and in 1965 ran for councilman in Youngstown’s fifth ward where he served two terms. In 1969, he became the Republican candidate for mayor, running against incumbent, three-term mayor Anthony Flask. It was a hard fought campaign. At the time, most attributed his victory margin of 3368 votes to the recent riot and shooting at Stop 5 on Poland Avenue at the entrance to Republic Steel when two teamster factions clashed, with one man dying.

Hunter married Pauline Pieton while in office. When their first child was born at St. Elizabeth Hospital, she was greeted with a billboard at Rayen and Belmont Avenues as she drove to the hospital:

Dear Polly: If it's a girl,
think Jo-Lynn; a
good Irish-Polish name...
Jack

As it turned out, they had a boy, named Jonathan David.

While in office, he presided over the much ballyhooed Federal Plaza project, turning parts of Federal Street and Central Square into an outdoor pedestrian mall. After early enthusiasm, my sense is that it was unpopular with most Youngstown residents and Central Square was re-opened to traffic in 2004.

It seems that part of the secret of Hunter’s success was that he acted with integrity and refused to play politics. Councilman Jerome McNally, a Democrat, spoke at Hunter’s funeral of how Hunter encouraged him to enter politics and mentored him, even though they were in different parties. Former Democrat councilman Herman “Pete” Starks paid him this tribute at his funeral:

“I served under four mayors during my 22 years on council, and he was the best of them,” said Starks, who was a pallbearer for Hunter. “He was a man of his word. There was no such thing as Democrats or Republicans with Jack Hunter. He was about taking care of business.” (Source: Youngstown Vindicator)

When ground was broken for the Boardman Expressway in October of 1971, weeks before an election in which Frank R. Franko, a former Democrat mayor was running against Hunter, the two appeared together. Franko had been part of the planning of the freeway and Hunter was able to look past the rivalry in including him, along with former Democrat mayor Frank Kryzan.

Perhaps it was his good fortune to conclude his fourth term as mayor in 1977, a year before the devastating mill closures. He went on to serve ten years on the state board of education from 1982 to 1991, and then again from 1998 until the time of his death. At Hunter’s funeral, Susan Tave Zellman, Ohio superintendent of public instruction said of Hunter, “On any issue, he always asked, ‘Is it good for the children?’ ” (Youngstown Vindicator).

Throughout his life, he was a member of Pleasant Grove United Presbyterian Church as well as a number of business and civic organizations. He was known as a religious man and committed to community service, both in office and out. He died of cancer on June 9, 2001, having been diagnosed only the week before. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Jack Hunter represented a rare tradition of seeing public office as public service. He described his victory in 1969 as “not a Republican victory but a people’s victory.” In A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, he wrote in 1976:

“I dream of a day when we put behind us the pernicious doctrine of what’s in it for me, or something for nothing, and give wholly and unstintingly of ourselves to make our neighborhood, our church, our schools, our community, a better place for all persons.”

Drawing on his business background, he worked hard to practice economy in government, making the most of people’s tax dollars. Then, he went on to serve Ohio’s children. My son, who graduated from high school in 2003 was one of those who benefited from his educational leadership. Thank you, Jack Hunter, for showing us the best of what is possible for those in public office, and for your service to your country, your home town, and the people of Ohio.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Atty. Clarence L. Robinson

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Attorney Clarence L. Robinson

His grandfather was one of the foremost Black citizens and businessmen in Youngstown. He was an outstanding football player and his team’s captain. He became a prominent attorney, serving on both local and state commissions, and was name to the first group of trustees when Youngstown University became Youngstown State in 1967.

Clarence L. Robinson was born March 6, 1892 to Thomas B. and Addie Berry Robinson. Addie’s father was P. Ross Berry, the area’s leading brick contractor of his time, who built many Youngstown area buildings including the still-standing original Rayen School building. His father was the headwaiter at the Youngstown Club. Clarence played tackle for The Rayen School, never missing a minute of play in three years, and was named a team captain.

He started out as a clerk and later secretary for the William Tod Company after completing studies at McGrath Business College. He went on to work in 1917 as a stenographer for the Wilkoff Company. While there, he enrolled in the Youngstown College night law school, studying under Judge George H. Gessner, passing the bar in 1925. On the death of Leo Wilkoff in 1931, Robinson succeeded him as counsel and became a director of the company in 1937.

Community service marked his life from early on when he volunteered as a football coach at the Booker T. Washington Settlement, leading his team to a city championship. He served on the Parks and Recreation Commission for ten years in the 1940’s. He also worked with organizations pursuing racial equality including the Inter-racial Committee, served as director for race relations for the War Manpower Commission during World War II, and the Governor’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1957. He was a member of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, beginning in 1959.

He played a leadership role in a number of legal organizations. He was president of the Roberts Deliberating Club, chairman of the legal redress committee of the NAACP, a trustee of Youngstown Civil Liberties Union, and a trustee and vice president of the Legal Aid Society. His distinguished leadership and Youngstown College roots made him an outstanding choice to serve as a trustee of the newly named Youngstown State University, appointed by Governor James Rhodes.

Robinson was a dedicated churchman. named as one of the most outstanding parishioners of St. Augustine’s Episcopal church, where he served as a lay reader, senior warden, and later, warden emeritus as a 57 year member. He was a vice president of the Youngstown Council of Churches and served on the committee on management for the old West Federal YMCA. In 1963, he received the first “Letterman in Christian Living” award from the national Laymen’s Movement for a Christian World.

Clarence L. Robinson passed away 50 years ago on October 27, 1973, at 81 years of age. In 1967, his community service was recognized when the new Clarence Robinson Center opened on the South Side. The building was eventually vacated in the early 2000’s and fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2016. During the same year the city dedicated a new Clarence Robinson Park, located in the 1700 block of Oak Hill Avenue at West Chalmers. It is fitting that this distinguished community member (and former volunteer coach and Parks and Recreation Commission member) be remembered in this way and it is to be hoped that the city and community will continue to honor his memory by caring well for the park for many years to come.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — John H. Fitch

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John H. Fitch, Public domain

In the fall, one of Chaney’s early season rivals was Austintown Fitch. Many of us living on Youngstown’s Westside had friends in Austintown and the rivalry was always a big deal. I’ll save the rivalry for another time. Today I write about how Fitch got its name.

John H. Fitch was born on his family’s farm near the center of Austintown in 1843. Eventually he had a farm encompassing over 400 acres with livestock, horses and chickens, near He started working in a grocery store at age 15 and by 22 was part owner with Levi Crum of a successful general store. By 1885, they expanded the store into Youngstown.

In 1901, the John H. Fitch Company was incorporated and in 1902, they bought out a firm selling coffee and tea, resulting in a very successful business, the John H. Fitch Coffee Company, selling nationwide out of a warehouse on Watt Street.

Children in Austintown were educated at small, one-room school houses scattered around the township. Those who went to high school went to nearby schools like Mineral Ridge. By 1915, there were at least eight such one-room schoolhouses around the township. In 1915 John Fitch donated eight acres of his farmland along Mahoning Avenue for the building of a new school to serve the township. In 1916 the Austintown Centralized School opened on that site in the building many of us went past (or even went to school in) in our younger years. In 1922, the school added grades 10-12. The building later served as the district high school until the move to its new building in 1968.

Austintown Central School, shortly after opening.

John H. Fitch also donated the land for the YMCA that bears his name, Camp Fitch. The original camp was on Little Beaver Creek south of Lisbon. After his death, the family donated the money to purchase the 93 acre site where Camp Fitch is currently located on Lake Erie.

John H. Fitch died in 1919. Frank Ohl, Fitch’s farm manager and active in school and township affairs led a petition drive to name the school after Fitch and in 1924, the school was renamed Austintown Fitch School, the name remaining as the name of the high school after elementary and middle schools were built.

And that is where the name “Fitch” came from, and the school that became Chaney’s football rival.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!