BOARDMAN — Richard Scarsella of Boardman wears many hats these days, but it is nothing new for this Valley native.

Since he was a young lad, he developed a passion for giving back and does so today through multiple organizations, many of which he leads. Scarsella was born and grew up on the West Side of Youngstown. He attended Ursuline High School and graduated in 1972.

His father, Alfred Scarsella, taught him early on about giving, and he did it through talks as well as setting an example.

“My father had a belief that you should give back to your community,” Scarsella said. “He used to purchase passes to the YMCA and give them out to children. I learned (early in life) that you either talk about it, or you do something about it. I decided to be a doer.”

He grew up around a lot of the local history of the area. His great-uncle, P.J. Ross, purchased the Renner Family mansion in Youngstown. The Renners operated Renner Brewing Co. Scarsella said he remembers running around in that massive mansion.

After graduating high school, Scarsella went to Europe as part of a Foreign Study League. His passion for history saw him touring both eastern and western Europe as well as the former Soviet Union. When he returned to the area, he got involved in the family business, Scarsella Furniture.

“I worked there several years, then went into teaching interior design at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center (MCCTC),” he said.

He also picked up a teaching position at Youngstown State University, continued his MCCTC position and helped out his mother, Marie Antoinette Scarsella, who was running Marie Antoinette Bridal and Edie’s Bridal of Boardman.

After a fire destroyed the Valley’s most popular amusement park (Idora Park) on April 26, 1984, Scarsella tried to help save what was left. He co-founded the Idora Park Historical Society and founded the Idora Park Institute. He commissioned Idora Park prints from local artists, Marty Cohol and Bob Barko Jr. The groups were split on how to save the park, and it eventually was sold to a church and the rides and equipment were auctioned off.

“We were so close to opening the park,” he said.

While he worked with the Idora groups, he said he met an architect named Tom Bode, who was with the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society. The society owned 73 acres of land near where McGuffey grew up. McGuffey, a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Presbyterian minister, is known for developing the McGuffey Reader in the 1830s, which became one of America’s first school books aimed at teaching grades 1 through 6 to read.

Scarsella said Bode got him involved with the society, and he eventually became president. Under his guidance, the society was able to turn the 73 acres over to Mill Creek MetroParks, which maintains it as the McGuffey Wildlife Preserve in Coitsville.

“We gave the property to Mill Creek Park because we didn’t want it drilled on or built on,” Scarsella said.

In his passion for history, he also got involved with the Boardman Historical Society, where he remains a member and served a term as president. He also is a founding member of the Mahoning Valley Preservation Society, and has been on the advisory board of the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor (Steel Museum) and on the board of directors of the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation.

As an educator, Scarsella is a member of the Ohio Education Association, Youngstown Education Association, National Education Association, Association of Career and Technical Education and the Ohio School Boards Association. He is a long-time member of the Youngstown City Schools’ Local Professional Development Committee.

In 2005, Scarsella was elected to the governing board of the Education Service Center of Eastern Ohio (ESCEO) and was appointed to the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center (MCCTC) at that time as well. He still serves on both and is the current ESCEO president.

A summa cum laude graduate of Boston College, with a Bachelor of Arts in history / secondary education, he also has earned a Youngstown State University Master of Science in Education Administration and a Master of Science in Special Education. He continued his studies at Ashland University, Walsh College and at Kent State University, where he earned a Transition to Work endorsement.

Besides history and educational organizations, Scarsella also has been involved in government and community endeavors. He was appointed to the Mahoning Valley Regional Council of Governments (MVRCOG) governing board in 2017, where he serves as president, and he has been the former chairman, supervisor and associate supervisor of the Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation Board of Supervisors since 2010. He also is active in Boardman Boosters, St. Charles Home and School Executive Cabinet, Ethnic Heritage Society, Sister Jerome’s Mission College Advisory Board, the Mill Creek MetroParks’ Board of Commissioners Interview Committee and Citizens’ Advisory Development Committee and Brier Hill Cultural Center. He is a longtime member of the Boardman Civic Association, Friends of Boardman Library and Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens. On the Mahoning Valley Vision for Education task force, he represented Boardman. As if all this was not enough, he also founded Sacred Places Dialogue in 2012.

Sacred Places Dialogue gave church congregations facing the closing of their church a procedure to try to save or repurpose it. He led the St. Casimir’s Polish Catholic Church congregation, in the Brier Hill neighborhood of Youngstown, in purchasing the parish grounds and reopening it as the Brier Hill Cultural Center. He also consulted with parish councils of John Knox Presbyterian, Mahoning Methodist and Metropolitan Baptist, all in Youngstown.

Today, Scarsella is still involved with most of the organizations he has been part of over the years. The McGuffey Historical Society is one he is still leading and helps plan a list of speakers at each monthly meeting. He does similar planning with the Boardman Historical Society.

In 2005, Scarsella published “Memories and Melancholy: Reflections of the Mahoning Valley,” which is still in print today. He previously wrote a column in the Town Crier newspapers and has been a frequent guest speaker at many different venues.

All these volunteer efforts are handled while working full-time as an administrator with Youngstown City School District and the Choffin Career and Tech Center as job training coordinator.

When asked how he does it, Scarsella replied, “You have to be a multi-tasker, prioritize, and take care of your own health. I know when I do finally retire, all of this will continue to seem like a full-time job.”

At age 67, he does find time to relax a bit and enjoys library visits, reading about history, and watching vintage movies and old news reels. And he doesn’t mind encouraging people to “get involved” and make a difference. He does credit three people with helping him along his path in life.

“My role models and inspiration came from good friends Sen. Harry Meshel, Sister Jerome Corcoran and Professor Al Bright,”Scarsella said. “They were big infuences on me and motivated me to become a change agent.”

To suggest a Saturday profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or metro editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com

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