Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Cleveland journalist, author and radio personality Mansfield Frazier has died, Frazier a native Clevelander and a product of Cleveland's public schools who worked primarily as a print and radio journalist.

Frazier died Saturday surrounded by family. He was 78.

He battled kidney disease, liver cancer and other ailments in recent years and is survived by a host of relatives, including his wife Brenda, and a grown daughter.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

"My dad is rapidly declining and I’m trying to find the silver lining," his daughter Ashley Jillian Smith said last week in a Facebook post. "I’m grateful for the time, while brief, we were able to bring joy to one another’s lives. I’m so proud to be one of the daughters of Mr. Mansfield Frazier."

Cleveland Ward 8 Councilman Michael Polensek was among the elected officials who commented on Frazier's passing.

"Great loss. We talked often in the past," Councilman Polensek told Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader "He had a great sense of humor and cared greatly about his community and our city. May he rest in peace. God bless his family."

Frazier's weekly column appeared on CoolClevleand.com, and his former radio show, “The Forum,” aired on WTAM, a Clear Channel outlet, on Sunday evenings. He occasionally contributed to local and national publications on issues of social, economic and criminal justice, including a few times on CNN.

Among a host of other local alternative newspapers, he was  briefly the editor of the Call and Post, a Black print weekly out of Cleveland, Ohio

He was also a community activist, developer, and vintner.  He and his wife Brenda established The Vineyards of Château of Hough in 2010 through their non profit organization Neighborhood Solutions. It is three-quarter acre site located across from their  home in Cleveland’s inner city  and historic Hough neighborhood.

Their first vintage won a second place ribbon at the Great Geauga County Fair in 2014, and Frazier was never shy about showing off his vineyard to neighbors and others who would stop by to admire the showcase.

The Grand Opening of the world’s first BioCellar (an underground crop propagation environment) was held  in October of 2014 on the site adjacent to the vineyard in their newly created four-acre Urban Agriculture Zone, and Frazier was all smiles.

His life was a reflection of redemption beyond struggle. His book, "From Behind the Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment & Race" which he wrote during the last of five federal prison terms for counterfeiting and fraud and before he gave up his criminal ways to become a self-made educator and popular and law biding member of society, remains available for purchase at amazon.com

Mansfield Frazier believed in giving back to the community through his volunteer work as well as grant programs that he developed  to mentor  young men returning to society after years of incarceration.

He was well read, and he loved politics. A Democrat, he even ran unsuccessfully for  city council in Cleveland Ward 7 where he and his wife resided, and though he did not make it past the primary, he ran with the proud endorsement of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper.