ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Positivity. Strength. Talent. Wisdom.

Those are just a few of the characteristics that came to mind as people reflected on the life of Robert “Bob” Vincenzo after he died Friday morning at age 92.

Vincenzo lived a long and interesting life, but he was best known for his 24 years serving as mayor of St. Clairsville. He previously served as a councilman beginning in 1978 and then as council president, for a total of 38 years of service to the city by the time he retired in 2016.

But politics was his second career. Born May 25, 1932, in Holloway, Vincenzo attended Holloway High School and joined the U.S. Army following his graduation. His military stint took him to Germany, where it was suggested that he enter Officer Candidate School; however, he knew his father and family would expect him to return home rather than launch a military career.

He left the Army in 1954 and married JoAnn Timko in 1956, transitioning to work in his family’s construction company, F.H. Vincenzo and Sons, founded by his father in 1918. He and JoAnn were married for 30 years before her death.

In 1994, he married Lorrinda Saxby, who spoke with The Times Leader about her late husband on Friday evening. In preparing for his funeral, she said, she found a plaque that he kept on his office wall that featured “The Serenity Prayer” — and she said it contained the principles that governed his life.

“That ability to accept the things he couldn’t change, the courage to change the things he could, and the wisdom to know the difference, I think that really drive him,” she said, adding that there were a lot of things that most St. Clairsville residents would never have known the mayor did.

One of those things was dispute resolution — a skill Saxby said he picked up through his involvement with a wide variety of organizations at the local and state levels.

“Honestly, that training enabled him to really be able to kind of see both sides of the situation and help mediate,” she said. “… He would talk about things like problems that come up between neighbors, the grass and the driveway.

“He would be able to kind of mediate so they didn’t sue each other,” she noted with a chuckle.

Saxby said her husband had “incredible wisdom and a real feel for servant leadership.” He was always looking at what he could do for the whole community through his leadership, according to Saxby.

Among the things he accomplished for the city were overseeing millions of dollars in grants for street improvements, the addition of curbs and sidewalks, as well as upgrades to the water, sewerage and electrical infrastructure. The city built a community garden and its bike trail during his administration, and the city received national and international recognition from America in Bloom under his guidance.

On a more personal level, sports were one of his passions.

“He really was a sports enthusiast,” Saxby said. “He loved his Pirates and his Steelers and his St, Clairsville football team, especially when he had grandchildren and great-grandchildren participating.”

A more recent development was his love of birds. Saxby said she and Vincenzo shared a “wonderful back window” that looks out over an area where he installed bird feeders so he could watch and identify the birds that visited. He said this had become a passion of his within the past eight to 10 years — and he also adored the squirrels that he spotted as part of the hobby.

All in all, he loved the backyard and being outdoors. Saxby said he even regularly mowed an adjacent strip of land they did not own to prevent snakes from infiltrating the area, in part because he worried about elderly neighbors on the block. He continued to mow grass until summer 2024, after he was over 90 years of age.

“He would meditate,” she said. “He would enjoy the smell of fresh grass.”

U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. worked closely with Vincenzo in a number of capacities over the years, but their relationship dates back much farther than their government service. Sargus said Vincenzo was friends with his father, so Sargus grew up knowing him. He said Vincenzo and Saxby are “two of my all-time favorite people that I have ever bumped into.”

Sargus and his wife, retired Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Sargus, stayed in touch with the couple and visited frequently as Vincenzo worked to recover from an injury he sustained in September.

“His mind was always sharp,” Sargus said. “He and Lorrinda both are the most positive people I have ever met. They are really strong.”

When Sargus became a lawyer, he said, his office was near the municipal building, and he would visit Vincenzo at the mayor’s office all the time.

“We were great social friends, and we were on city council together,” Sargus noted. “And in 1998, he and his brother built a new house for us.”

In addition to their time as city councilors, the two served on the Parish Council at St. Mary’s C Catholic Church together for many years, worked on a lot of projects together and both served on the Belmont C college Foundation board.

“What we both liked was local government,” Sargus recalled. “He was a really gifted mayor. Before that, he was council president.”

Sargus termed Vincenzo a master craftsman,” adding that he built the Riesbeck’s store in the city along with “a ton” of other businesses. He said the former mayor knew “all about curbs, drainage, roads and culverts.” He also “had a knack for finding the best people,” Sargus added, pointing to folks such as former police chief Martin Kendzora and former fire chief Greg Reline.

He credited Vincenzo for helping to create the Cumberland Trail Fire District, which serves and is funded by the city, Richland Township and the Ohio Valley Mall — a far more sustainable solution for the city than its previous volunteer fire department.

He also said Vincenzo spearheaded the redevelopment of the city’s business district in 1990-91. In the late ’80s, he noted, the sidewalks were crumbling, signage was out of control and telephone wires everywhere. Under Vincenzo’s leadership, the city moved toward uniform signs for businesses, installed different sidewalks and redid the Belmont County Courthouse plaza.

“It really made the town sparkle,” Sargus said, noting that businesses chipped in with an assessment and that there was no way the city could have afforded the project without Vincenzo’s ability to secure funding.

“Bob knew where the money was,” he added, citing sources such as the Appalachian Regional Commission, Belomar Regional Council and the Belmont County Board of Commissioners.

From a personal perspective, Sargus said he will miss his lifelong friend.

“He was one of the most decent people I ever knew,” Sargus said. “I never saw a temper. He was kind to everybody.”

Current Mayor Kathryn Thalman did not know Vincenzo well, but she does admire him.

“He was an icon in town,” she said. “… I have nothing but respect and admiration for someone who dedicated that much of their life to service. I admire him very much for that.”

Like Sargus, she pointed to many of the big projects — such as Plaza West where Riesbeck’s is now located — being completed under his watch.

“I didn’t know him very well, but I have heard nothing but wonderful things. He was a man of honor. … He created the platform for our success. He made it very possible for us to do wonderful things, and it all started with the seeds he planted.”

Thalman also expressed her prayers and condolences for his family and said she is honored to follow in his footsteps.

In addition to Saxby, Vincenzo is survived by his children and stepdaughter — Barb (Dave) Ellis, Robert “Bob” Vincenzo, Don (Karen) Vincenzo and Melissa (Ron) Weber — and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Toothman Funeral Home in St. Clairsville.