A Masonic service is set for 7:30 p.m. Funeral services will be held at St. Jacob Lutheran Church at 213 E. Central Avenue in Miamisburg on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m.
Burial will follow at Hillgrove Cemetery, Miamisburg. Gebhart-Schmidt-Parramore Funeral Home, Miamisburg, is handling the services.
Church died Dec. 8 at age 81, about three years after he retired after serving as seven straight terms as Miamisburg’s mayor. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Judith Church.
In 2019, Church had what the Ohio Municipal League called the second-longest continuous mayor’s tenure in the state.
“He proudly served his community and embraced the role of leadership,” according to Church’s obituary. “He adopted the slogan ‘Great things are happening’ and worked tirelessly to make sure those words remained accurate.”
Church was raised in Miamisburg and lived there nearly his entire life there. He graduated from Miamisburg High School in 1959, where he was a member of the marching band and editor of the school newspaper, his obituary states.
Attending the annual Buckeye Boys State while a student was a life-changing event for him.
“He developed a deep interest in local government and told his friends afterward that he would someday become mayor. It was a vow he kept,” according to his obituary.
Church was a challenger in his first Miamisburg mayor’s race in 1991, narrowly upsetting the incumbent in a recount.
In his last one he faced opposition, but won with a 20 percent cushion. In between, he went unchallenged in five elections.
In 1991, the Department of Energy under President George H.W. Bush announced plans to close the Mound plant, which at its peak had 2,500 jobs and then employed about 1,800.
From 1995 to 2006, the DOE awarded more than $1 billion in contamination clean-up efforts and in 2010 federal officials declared the site ready for full-scale redevelopment. Today, it is the site of Mound Business Park, the site of hundreds of jobs.
Church also worked to revitalize a decaying downtown, build the new Miamisburg High School in the city; get the Austin Boulevard/Interstate 75 interchange built and led efforts in planning Miamisburg’s bicentennial celebration in 2018.
Memorial contributions may be made in Church’s memory to the Miamisburg Schools Education Foundation or to SICSA. Condolences may be expressed at www.gebhartschmidtparramore.com.
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