YOUNGSTOWN ­ Youngstown City Council paid tribute to Patrick Ungaro, the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history, by honoring him with a proclamation.

Council President DeMaine Kitchen said Ungaro, who died last month after a battle with cancer, “laid the foundation for many of the successes Youngstown has seen over the past 25 to 30 years and led the region through one of its most challenging periods of economic uncertainty.”

The proclamation was accepted Wednesday by Ungaro’s family.

“We appreciate these guys and ladies for this honor,” said Eric Ungaro, his oldest son. “He was able to give the city some hope and change back during some rough times. That is part of his legacy. You want to leave things a little bit better than how you found them. We’re very humbled as a family.”

Ungaro, 78, served 14 years as mayor, leaving at the end of 1997 because of the city’s term-limits law, which has since been repealed by voters.

Before that, Ungaro was 3rd Ward councilman for four years and council president for two years. He was first elected mayor in 1983.

Read MORE in Thursday’s VINDICATOR edition of the Tribune Chronicle.