Joseph Vrabel

Joseph Vrabel, 95 West Palm Beach, Florida - Joseph Vrabel, 95, of Lourdes-Noreen-McKeen Nursing Home formerly of Youngstown, died Wednesday morning at the nursing home. Mr. Vrabel was born August 27, 1907 in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania a son of Stephen and Veronica Kornick Vrabel. He came to this area and to Campbell as a young boy. He was a graduate of Campbell High School and attended Hall Business College in Youngstown. He owned and operated the Athens Club from 1941-1942, the All American Club from 1942-1946 and then the Hillcrest Tavern from 1946 until 1960. He was 2nd Ward Councilman for the City of Campbell from 1943-1944. Mr. Vrabel served on the Campbell Board of Education in the late 1940âa�a��s. In 1959 he was elected Mayor of the City of Campbell and served in office from 1960 until1966. He then worked for the Mahoning County Civil Defense from 1966-1968. He retired in 1968 and was called back to public office in 1971 serving as Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Campbell Board of Education. He retired in 1976. Mr. Vrabel was a very active member of the Democratic Party on all levels, local, state and national. In the 1940âa�a��s he was instrumental in electing Truman to the Presidency with 98% vote cast in the City of Campbell. A plaque commemorating this event now hangs in the President Harry S. Truman Library in Missouri. He was also very active in the 1960 election of President John F. Kennedy and personally met him when in Youngstown campaigning. Mr. Vrabel was an avid sportsman in all sports. He excelled in baseball and played for Hillcrest Athletic Club and the Slovak Baseball League. He was very active in the Connie Mack Tournament, was an officer of the Youngstown Baseball Old Timers and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1988. In1993 he received The King of the Realm Award. A member of the Campbell Memorial Football Boosters from 1949-1951 he was instrumental in sending the teams to practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. He was an avid fisherman and was a member of Lake Charette in Canada. He was a member of St. Michaels Byzantine Church in Campbell. Besides his wife the former Nancy Neal Kennedy whom he married January 13, 1929 he leaves two daughters, Alma (Michael) McCullion of West Palm Beach, Florida and Patricia Vrabel of Phoenix, Arizona; three sons, Joseph (Nadine) Vrabel of Poland, William (Sandra) Vrabel of Campbell and Gerald (Norma) Vrabel of Fort Pierce, Florida; one sister, Margaret Tomko of Poland; one brother, George Vrabel of Naples, Florida; thirteen grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson. One son, Kenneth Vrabel, three brothers Nicholas, Stephen and John Vrabel and three sisters, Marie Payton, Veronica Vrabel and Anna Bilkie preceded him in death. Funeral services will be Monday, 9:15 AM at the Cunningham-Becker Funeral Home, Poland and 10:00 AM at St. Michaels Church. Friends may call Sunday from 5-8 PM at the funeral home.

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