Clarence Roman Smith, Jr.

July 10, 1928 — April 13, 2021 (age 92)

BOARDMAN — Clarence R. "Sonny" Smith, 92, died Tuesday (April 13) at Briarfield at Ashley Circle.

He was former chairman of Compco Industries and a former Mahoning County Republican Chairman from 1998 to 2010.

He also operated Adamas Gem Shop at Market Street and McClurg Road, and Diamond Steel for many years.

He was a member of the Mahoning County Board of Elections from June 1998 to Jan. 7, 2013.

Active in the community, Mr. Smith was a strong supporter of Youngstown State University and Boardman High School, Sister Jerome's ministries, Native American Indians, Boy Scouts and many civic concerns.

At YSU, he was a major contributor to Penguins sports programs and played a major role in philanthropic efforts to raise funds for the construction of Stambaugh Stadium. Mr. Smith served as the co-chair of the Stambaugh Stadium project and was instrumental in the brick campaign.

A frequent traveler, Mr. Smith, like his father, began acquiring geological specimens from all over the world. By 1962, he and his father had amassed enough pieces to open their own rock shop, Adamas Art and Hobby Shop, within a barn at his home in Boardman.

Forty years later, he donated his extensive mineral collection to Youngstown State where the Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum was established.

He capped the effort to erect a Veterans Memorial in Boardman Park with the donation of an Eagle sculpture that graces the memorial today.

Clarence R. Smith was the first president of Boardman Little League in 1955, often showing up to umpire games, first played at West Boulevard Elementary School and in Boardman Park.

He helped merge Boardman Little League and Boardman Youth Baseball into one organization, Boardman Community Baseball, joining soon thereafter with Dr. John York to lead the development of the Fields of Dreams, one of the largest youth baseball complexes east of the Mississippi River.

A former member of Boardman United Methodist Church, Mr. Smith, worked with Rev. Norman Crewson to lead the effort there to build a new sanctuary for the church in 1966 at the corner of Market Street and Buena Vista.

When he and his wife relocated to Lake Tomahawk a decade ago, he joined Greenford Christian Church, promptly donating a 10-ton, 35-foot steel cross to the church so families could gather at the site to pray and reflect.

In the late 1990s, he donated 11-plus acres of land to Boardman Township for the construction of the Boardman Township Government Center.

As a longtime member and former chairman of the Boardman Local School Board, Mr. Smith helped to lead the effort to build a new Boardman High School on Glenwood Avenue.

Some four decades later, in 1999, he and his company aided the Auditorium 2000 drive to build a 1,600-seat auditorium at Boardman High School.

Sonny Smith was born July 10, 1928 in Boardman, the son of Clarence and Lottie Virginia Wheland Smith Sr.

He attended Valley Forge Military Academy, and then graduated from Boardman High School in 1947. He attended Kenyon College, but his time there was cut short when he returned to Boardman to operate Diamond Steel Construction due to illness in the family when he was a junior at the college.

A pipe hanger venture led to the formation of Compco Industries, which soon began manufacturing tank heads for pressure vessels, including air compressors, propane storage, water tanks and many other applications. For many years, the company was located at 85 East Hylda St., Youngstown before moving its headquarters to Columbiana.

Mr. Smith was an honorary member of the Buckeye Elks Lodge No. 7, named Man of the Year by the Boardman Civic Association and was a recipient of the Private Sector Business Award from the Better Business Bureau.

In 2002, Mr. Smith was honored as the 2002 Penguin of the Year, as chosen by the Youngstown State University Penguin Club.

Sonny and his wife, Rose Marie (Poschner), celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary June 17, 2020, with a family celebration at their home.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first son, Clarence "Smitty" Smith III; and sisters Jackie Botch, Elsie McLane and Margaret Turnbull.



In addition to his wife, he leaves twin daughters, Gwen (John) Darnell, and Gail Smith; a son, Greg (Nancy) Smith; grandchildren Rick (Christy) Kamperman, Kim (Tom) Varley, Brad (Ashley) Smith, C. Roman Smith IV, Skyler Smith and Reagan Smith; great-grandchildren Jacob Kamperman, Ryan Kamperman, Alayna Varley, Tommy Varley, Jayse Varley and Adalynn Varley; and a nephew, John (Marcia) Botch.

The family has requested that memorial tributes take the form of donations to the Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum at Youngstown State University. Donors should make checks payable to the Youngstown State University Foundation, 655 Wick Ave., Youngstown Ohio 44502, or Hospice of the Valley, 5190 Market St., Boardman Ohio 44512.

The family would like to thank Ed and Diane Reese and all the wonderful and compassionate staff at Briarfield Place at Ashley Circle for their care given to Mr. Smith, as well as the staff of Hospice of the Valley.

A memorial service will be held April 24 at 11 a.m. at Greenford Christian Church, Building D, 11767 Lisbon Road, Greenford, with Pastor Sean Kelly officiating.

Mr. Smith was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Boardman following a private family funeral Thursday (April 15) at the Davis-Becker Funeral Home in Boardman.

To send flowers to Clarence's family, visit our floral store.

This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Clarence Roman Smith, Jr.."