Smith called Ronicker a “huge supporter” of the village who “had big plans for the St. Paris community as the mayor.”
Ronicker served on St. Paris Council from January 2022 to December 2023. He won election as mayor in November last year, then took office in January.
“The Saint Paris Police Department sends its condolences to the Ronicker Family, the rest of the Village of Saint Paris Employees, Operation Rebirth, friends of Mayor Ronicker, and the whole Saint Paris Community,” Smith’s post said.
A village release said flags will fly at half staff until Sunday night “in honor of Sam’s life and service to our community.”
Ronicker had served as the Springfield News-Sun’s consumer sales manager in the mid 1990s until about a decade later.
He left to lead the ministry Operation Rebirth, a Champaign County Christian boarding school where struggling young men learn respect, responsibility and building relationships through school work, farm work and responsibilities in the dorm, according to a 2010 News-Sun story.
It is with heavy heart that the Saint Paris Police Department announces the passing of Mayor Sam Ronicker. Mayor...
Posted by Saint Paris Police Department on Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Ronicker had been ill and was hospitalized in January when some community members organized meals for his family and for the young men who stay in the Operation Rebirth program.
In an interview for the 2010 News-Sun story on Operation Rebirth, Ronicker talked about when a former student came back as an adult with his wife and child and adamantly praised how much the school helped raise him.
Teresa Ronicker, his wife, said of the former student: “He was showing his wife around telling her how much this place changed his life. It was really cool because lots of times you don’t know (how you’ve impacted them). You never hear from them again, sometimes some will come back and lots of times you’ll just hear an update from a parent.”