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YOUNGSTOWN -- One of the Mahoning Valley's longest-serving leaders is in mourning today, and her colleagues have made it clear that she will not grieve alone.
Frank Righetti, 88, the husband of Mahoning County Commissioner and former Youngstown City Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.
Fellow Commissioners Geno DiFabio and Anthony Traficanti announced the news at Thursday's regular meeting, and asked for a moment of silence.
At the end of a short meeting, both commissioners offered condolences to their colleague and spoke kindly of Rimedio-Righetti and her husband.
"Everybody knew him. Everybody saw him with Carol at all the different events, and if you went up and talked to Frank, you liked him as soon as you spoke to him," Traficanti said. "Frank was a big guy, he was intimidating, but he had a heart of gold and he had just a very good, good soul, and Frank will be missed. I just want to say personally that my deepest condolences go out to Carol and her family at the loss of Frank. It was a long-fought battle and Frank will always be remembered, and God bless Carol."
DiFabio, whose good-natured, if politically contentious, banter with Rimedio-Righetti has become a routine part of commissioners meetings, asked everyone for prayers for her and her family.
"Everybody, everybody I talked to would say what a great guy Frank was. Her husband's awesome. Her husband's wonderful," he said. "If Carol was here, Frank was here [referring to her mobile phone]. I think Frank was at half of our meetings because she was taking care of Frank. In the last year and a half, he's had a rough go but...she took every minute to take care of him."
Though he never met her husband, he said he has great respect for the love they shared and the way she cared for Frank throughout his illness.
"I mean, you talk about love and devotion to somebody, they could have written the book on what that was, that relationship and how she cared for him and cared about him. Everyone should have that. They should. Everyone should have someone like that in their life, because I'm sure that helped him, knowing that she was always there."
Traficanti echoed the sentiment.
"Through cancer and various other illnesses, I will tell you that Carol never left his side. She was by him night and day and took very, very, very good care of Frank," he said.
He said his friend spared no expense to try to make the house accommodating for her husband and bring him home from the hospital. She invested in chair lifts, a bathroom overhaul, and various other handicap-accessible renovations, Traficanti said.
Briefly, Righetti was able to return to the house, but fell a week ago and had to return to a professional care facility.
DiFabio said the whole county is behind Rimedio-Righetti.
"I do want to do whatever we can for her because ... Carol is rock solid in her support of this county and the people that we serve as your representatives. She is," he said.