Victor S. "Vic" Rubenstein

Victor S. "Vic" Rubenstein

LIBERTY - Victor S. "Vic" Rubenstein, well-known Mahoning Valley marketing consultant and community advocate, passed into the loving arms of his Lord at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 2, at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., after complications following surgery. He was 72 years old.

Vic was born November 21, 1943 in Youngstown, the only son of Emmanuel M. and Celia Copeland Rubenstein, and cherished his Jewish heritage. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1966 from Youngstown State University, where he was Senior Class president, managing editor of The Jambar student newspaper, and was also YSU’s first "Pete the Penguin" mascot.

He began his professional life as a junior high English teacher at Canfield Middle School, and by 1968 he was the publisher and editor of three weekly newspapers under the auspices of Chancellor Press. He moved to WYTV in 1969, where he was public relations director and hosted both a late-night movies show and a local "good morning" program.

He founded Rubenstein Associates, a marketing and communications agency, in 1970, beginning a career that would garner well over 75 local, regional and national awards for excellence in advertising, public relations, marketing and song writing, as well as for his role as a commercial television producer and director. He was also appointed by Gov. Richard Celeste to sit on the Governor’s Advisory Board to the Ohio Film Bureau.

He married the former Carolyn Anne Peck on December 14, 1978, and she joined him in the operation of the company.

Vic had tremendous love and pride for his home town, never passing up an opportunity to help Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley to grow and prosper. His positive approach to the area’s assets led him to team with community leaders and organizations to bring several businesses here, most notably the Avanti automobile in the 1980s and, more recently, Allegiant Airlines to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. For several years, he was consulting vice-president of marketing for AVI Foodsystems in Warren, where he created and implemented marketing strategies and efforts for the largest independently owned and operated contract food service company in the United States. He and his firm coordinated and publicized the film premier of "An Unremarkable Life," starring Shelley Winters and Patricia Neal, that was filmed in Mercer, Pa., in 1989. He believed intensely in the value of his work and the value of his clients, who became his personal friends, and they in turn believed and trusted in him. His quest to do whatever possible to help the region led him to represent candidates on both sides of the political spectrum: he wanted to help worthy people, regardless of party affiliation, in their quest for office.

He was an active member of New Life Christian Fellowship, where his philosophy of Christian love was nurtured. He was the rock on which many people, friends and strangers alike, leaned in times of need, and he never let them down.

He was the father of four children and expressed unabashed love for and pride in each of them, routinely writing letters of love and support. They and his grandchildren were the center of his life, taking place even before his beloved dog Harley.

Survivors include, besides his wife, children Keith (Susan), owner of Redstone Healthcare of Lake Forest, Ill.; Kim Rubenstein, Psy.D. (Tom Lundin), owner of Compatibility LLC., Highland Park, Ill.; Eric (V.J.), Ph.D., (Lisa, Ph.D.), both professors at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and Mark, a real estate representative with Ryan Homes in Charlotte, N.C.; and grandchildren Lucille, Sydney, Zachary, and Ella Rubenstein of Lake Forest.

He was preceded in death by his parents and several aunts and uncles.

Calling hours will be held at Davis-Becker Funeral Home, 8536 Market Street in Boardman, Sunday from 1:00PM-4:00PM and Monday 10:00AM-10:45AM at the New Life Christian Fellowship. 2088 Tibbetts Wick Rd., Girard. The funeral service will be Monday 11:00AM at the church.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Akiva Academy, c/o Ms. Kathy Mioni, 505 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown, OH 44504, or New Life Christian Fellowship, designated for the Youth Group, 2088 Tibbetts-Wick Road, Girard, OH. 44420.