Richard C. Shelar

Leetonia - July 23, 2009 - Atty. Richard C. Shelar, 69, of 710 Columbia Street, died Thursday morning at the Salem Community Hospital.

Mr. Shelar was born October 30, 1939 in Austintown, a son of the late Clyde W. and Evelyn I. Fryfogle Shelar and had lived in Leetonia since 1989, coming from Austintown.

He was a 1957 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School and a 1964 graduate of Youngstown State University with a BA in History. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron Law School in 1969.

Mr. Shelar maintained a private practice of Law in Leetonia since 1971 and previous to that in Canfield and Youngstown. He also had served as an assistant Youngstown City Prosecutor for seven years in the Mayor Hunter administration.

He was a member of the Austintown Community Church, the Columbiana Co. Bar Assn., the Mahoning Co. Bar Assn., the Ohio State Bar Assn., and the American Bar Assn. He was also a member of Leetonia Lodge #401 F. & A.M., the National Rifle Assn., the Ohio Gun Collector's Assn., the Antique Auto Club of America, and the American Radio Relay League. An avid collector of old cars, he was also a ham operator since 1956 with the call letters "K8CCV" and had been active in Boy Scouts where he was an Eagle Scout.

He is survived by several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Woods-Rettig Funeral Home, Leetonia with Pastor Kari Lankford officiating. Burial will follow in Brunstetter Cemetery, Austintown. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. on Sunday.

Friends are invited to a reception at Richard's home at 710 Columbia Street, Leetonia following the services at the cemetery. If friends desire, memorials may be made to the Boy Scouts of America.