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Stark County's "First Lady" Mary Regula Dies At 91.

Ralph and Mary Regula at their home in Navarre, Ohio, in 2012  (Mark Urycki)

The “first lady” of Stark County has died. Mary A. Regula, wife of Congressman Ralph Regula, became a voice for women’s causes and women’s history. She was the driving force behind building the National First Ladies’ Library in Canton. 

Mary Regula grew up in Girard, Ohio, the daughter of immigrants. She was inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt and became interested in history, particularly women in history.  


Mary Regula [photo courtesy National First Ladies' Library]

She taught high school but had never been to a big city other than to go to Cleveland with school groups to hear classical music. She married Ralph Regula and moved to his farm in Navarre.

“I also had never been on a farm,” she said in a 2012 interview.

She ended up raising three children and only then did she learn to drive. 

Ralph was elected to Congress in 1972, and Mary spent time in Washington where she got to know 7 first ladies.

In 1994 she gathered a dozen other women from Stark County with the idea of creating a First Ladies’ Library at Ida Saxton McKinley’s house in downtown Canton. She wanted support from actual First Ladies.

In a 2012 interview, Regula, a Republican, recalls going to meet Democrat Hillary Clinton, when she was the first lady.

“And we sat in the Red Room and I’ll never forget it. I told her about my idea. I never really met her on a one-to-one basis. There wasn’t anyone else in the room. She said ‘You know I think that’s a great idea and I’ll be your honorary chair.’” 

From there, Mary Regula went on to gain support from all the other living first ladies. She remembered Barbara Bush refused at first.

 

 

  Mary Regula in 2012

“I said, ‘Well, I understand Barbara’ and I let her go,” said Regula. “And then after I got everyone else I called her back. I said, ‘Barbara, do you want to be the only living first lady who’s said no to me?’ and she said ‘Oh, all right, I’ll do it.’” 

Regula went next to the head of General Motors who promptly committed $100,000 to the project. The library opened in 1995 and is now the First Ladies National Historic Site under the National Park Service.

Both Hillary Clinton and Rosalyn Carter came to Canton to dedicate the buildings for the library. As a thank you to Carter, Regula volunteered to help build a Habitat for Humanity house. 

Mary Regula was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1999.  

Regula died this week, almost nine months after her husband. She was 91.