Eugenia Atkinson, center, is surrounded by two of her children, daughter Najuma Atkinson and son Omari Atkinson, at a dedication ceremony Monday in which the Eugenia C. Atkinson Recreation Center was renamed to include her husband, the late Richard Atkinson, a longtime community activist who died Feb. 17 at 82.

YOUNGSTOWN — Many who knew the late Richard Atkinson will tell you that he left an indelible set of footprints on the city, community and in their lives.

So, it was probably not surprising that many of them bore witness to another set of his symbolic footprints being added to the fabric.

“I don’t know anyone who loved the city more than Dad did. He’s a product of the city,” Atkinson’s daughter, Najuma Atkinson of Austin, Texas, said. “To him, there were no strangers. My father was about community.”

Suffice it to say that nary a stranger attended Tuesday morning’s dedication ceremony at which the Eugenia C. Atkinson Recreation Center, 903 Otis St., on the North Side, was renamed the Richard W. and Eugenia C. Atkinson Recreation Center in honor of her late husband’s longtime work in and service to the community.

Atkinson, a graduate of The Rayen School and Youngstown State University, died Feb. 17. He was 82.

In addition, the family has opened the Richard W. and Eugenia C. Atkinson Fund, with annual donations to the charitable effort earmarked for parks, neighborhoods and recreational programs for children.

Atkinson, fondly known as “Dickie,” was the city’s first black 3rd Ward councilman, a Youngstown City School Board president and longtime community activist who, many have said, helped them develop a stronger sense of importance and purpose. He also was a founding member of Freedom Inc. and the Marcus Garvey School, along with the Mahoning / Youngstown Community Action Program’s board of trustees’ chairman.

For his contributions to the Mahoning Valley, the center was renamed in his honor.

“My husband and I were a team,” said Eugenia Atkinson, who retired as the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority’s longtime director. “We’re just ecstatic that we’re able to add his name; it means so much to the community.

“He gave everything he had to the North Side and to the city.”

The facility sits in the city’s Arlington Heights section, formerly Westlake Terrace, which is made up of new single-family homes and townhouses. The center also is a hub for numerous community events and recreational opportunities.

The facility, which is emblematic of the couple’s dedication to the community’s betterment, also is a reflection of their desire to keep the fabric of the area strong and vibrant, said Omari Atkinson, their son, of Washington, D.C., said. In addition, the facility will continue to provide numerous opportunities for young people, he added.

From a young age, Omari Atkinson and his siblings had ingrained in them the importance of giving their time and service to their community, he continued.

“He was funny. He was about family,” Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said, adding that Richard Atkinson also was well known and revered by many across Youngstown.

During Tuesday”s ceremony, Brown also handed Eugenia Atkinson a key to the city.

“Eugenia is a community treasure,” said Lynnette Forde, the Youngstown Foundation’s president.

For years, Eugenia Atkinson served as chairwoman of the foundation’s distribution committee. She also was part of a search committee, along with former YSU President Jim Tressel, that selected Forde for the post, she said.

Since the Youngstown Foundation was established in 1918, the Atkinson family fund is the first started by a black family in the foundation’s 106-year history, Forde noted.

Forde, who met Eugenia Atkinson about four years ago and began as YF’s president in January 2021, called her “a mentor and resource for me,” in an effort to continue supporting the foundation. Donations to the fund must be used for the benefit of city residents, along with their recreational needs and quality of life, she explained.

A few weeks before the May 28 natural gas explosion that destroyed the Realty Tower, Eugenia Atkinson visited the Chase Bank branch that was on the building’s first floor and had spent time with Akil Drake, 27, a bank employee who was killed in the blast, Forde said. The tragedy gave Atkinson time to reflect and double down on her commitment to use the fund to better the city, Forde added.