The President's Corner

Me (far left), Mayor James W. Day, Mayor Gerald Boldt, and Mayor Dean DePiero at the groundbreaking ceremony for Fire Station 1 on Pearl Road.  What an honor this was for a history teacher!

One evening in June, my wife and I attended a fundraiser at Mount Alverna Village, a senior living community on top of State Road Hill. While there, I spoke with a young man who was surprised to learn in our conversation that Day Drive is named after former Mayor James W. Day. My wife and I had the honor of dining with James W. Day II and his lovely wife Linda, which is how we happened on the subject. This article is dedicated to educating those who may not know after whom some of our streets are named in Parma. I credit much of the information in the article to my friends former Mayor Day and his son Jim, as well as The Best Kept Secret of Parma by Robert Horley (1998).

Stanfield Drive: Dedicated Overlook Drive in 1927 – City council renamed the street in 1932 after dentist and Mayor Richard F. Stanfield who served from 1926 to 1927.

Johnson Drive: Dedicated 1964 – It was named after Mayor Frank D. Johnson who served from 1927 to 1934.

Fleger Drive: Dedicated 1973 - It was named after Parma’s first Democratic Mayor Anthony Fleger who served from 1934 to 1935. He also served in the Ohio House of Representatives and was also elected Parma’s first Congressman in 1936.

Reichert Road: Dedicated 1957 – Former Mayor Roland Reichert who served from 1936 to 1942 and 1946 to 1949 is the namesake for this street. He also served as judge on Parma Municipal Court from 1962 to 1965 when he passed.

Augustine Drive: Dedicated 1957 – This street was named to honor Mayor Sylvester Augustine who served from 1942 to 1945 and 1960 to 1961 when he died in office.

Stary Drive: Dedicated 1964 – Former Mayor Lawrence Stary is honored with this street. He served from 1950 to 1952.

Zona Lane: Dedicated 1957 – Mayor Stephen A. Zona served from 1952 to 1958.  He also served as a state legislator and Parma Municipal Court Judge.  In all, he served the people of Parma for 39 years.

Kader Drive: Dedicated 1958 – Named after Mayor Joseph Kader, Sr. who served from 1958 to 1959. His daughter Jean is the wife of former Mayor Gerald Boldt whom I am happy to report both still reside in Parma.

Bobko Boulevard: Dedicated 1958 – Mayor John A. Bobko had been serving on city council when Mayor Augustine passed away in 1961.

Day Drive: Dedicated 1958 – As mentioned before, this street was named in honor of former Mayor James W. Day who served our community from 1962 to 1967.  Mayor James Day Park, formerly Nike Park, is also named in his honor.

Parma has had five more mayors since Mayor Day. As of this writing none have had streets named in their honor.  However, Petruska Park was named in honor of former Mayor John Petruska who served from 1967 to 1987. Further, Ries Park is named after Mayor Michael Ries who served from 1988 until his death in 1994. Mayor Gerald Boldt served from 1994 to 2003. Dean DePiero served from 2004 to 2012. Finally, Mayor Timothy DeGeeter has been serving since that time. Incidentally, there is not a street named after Parma’s first Mayor John F. Goldenbogen who served in 1925.

For those of you who remember some of this history, I hope this gave you a nice walk down memory lane (pun intended). For those of you who did not, I hope you enjoyed learning something new about your community. Happy 245th birthday America! God bless!

Sean Brennan

Parma City Council President Sean Brennan

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Volume 13, Issue 7, Posted 8:44 AM, 07.01.2021