Correspondent photo / Sean Barron A ribbon-cutting ceremony and dinner took place Tuesday at the Mahoning County Republican Party headquarters in Boardman to usher in the grand opening of the Clarence R. Smith Jr. Social Center. With the scissors is Mahoning County Republican Chairman Tom McCabe.

BOARDMAN — For decades, the late Clarence R. Smith Jr. had been immersed in local Republican politics and met many luminaries such as President Ronald Reagan, but at the heart of it, he was an unassuming man who loved God, his community and country, a few family members say.

“Dad loved the Republican Party; he loved America,” his daughter, Gwen Smith-Darnell of Negley, said. “If you had a need, he’d fill it. He was very humble and always willing to help lend a hand, especially in the community.”

Smith also was the centerpiece of an honorary ribbon-cutting ceremony and gathering Tuesday afternoon at the Mahoning County Republican Party headquarters, 8381 Market St., to celebrate the grand opening of the Clarence R. Smith Jr. Young Republican Social Center.

A few hundred elected officials, political hopefuls, community leaders and others attended the gathering also to honor Smith, who died April 13, 2021. He was 92.

Perhaps a highlight of Smith’s foray into conservative politics was having met Reagan in 1988 at the White House, along with attending several presidential inaugural balls, his wife, Rose Marie Smith of Negley, recalled.

“He visited Reagan. He said, ‘I’m so speechless,'” Smith said, adding that she and her husband also had former Vice President Dan Quayle to their home.

Clarence Smith, former Compco Industries chairman, served as county GOP chairman from 1998 to 2010. From June 1998 to Jan. 7, 2013, he was with the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

In addition, Smith was a key contributor to Youngstown State University Penguins sports teams; he also helped raise funds to build Stambaugh Stadium. In 1962, Smith and his father opened Adamas Art and Hobby Shop in Boardman and, in 2002, the younger Smith donated his extensive mineral collection to YSU, now home to the Clarence R. Smith Jr. Mineral Museum, according to his obituary.

Tom McCabe, Mahoning County Republican Party chairman, noted that in December, the decision was made to remodel and temporarily close the party’s headquarters. The work entailed new flooring and lighting, along with additional space next door to further accompany a party that has grown over the past seven or eight years, he said.

The extra room also translates into the ability to conduct more than one meeting or other gathering simultaneously, McCabe added.

The local Republican Party has been at its location about 10 years, and it sits on part of about 65 acres Smith had owned along Market Street, McCabe said.He added that for years, one of Smith’s priorities was getting young people into the Republican Party.

During the program, state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, presented McCabe with a proclamation to congratulate the latter for his assistance in reopening the party’s headquarters.

For all of his contributions to, and work on behalf of, the Mahoning Valley community, Smith was selfless and happy to give back, Rose Marie Smith said.

“He always said, ‘I had a wonderful life,'” she added.