The Honorable Marco S. Sommerville

Civic leader, political leader, and mortician Marco S. Sommerville was born on July 1, 1951 to Jewel and Robert Sommerville in Akron, Ohio. Sommerville graduated from Buchtel High School in Akron, Ohio in 1969. He then attended Kent State University before attending the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, where he received his B.M.S. degree in 1974.

In 1974, Sommerville founded Sommerville Funeral Services to service Akron’s African American community. He then began his career in city government in 1987 as a city councilman for the City of Akron, Ohio in 1987 and served in that capacity until 2015. He also served as president of Akron City Council between 2001 and 2013 and the director of Akron’s planning and urban development department from 2013 to 2016. In 2016, he became the deputy mayor of intergovernmental affairs.

Sommerville has a history of community service and has served on the board of the Summit County Visitor Bureau, the Summit County Land Bank, the Akron Zoo, the Akron Summit Community Action, the Summit County Board of Elections, and the Summit County Public Health, as well as chaired the Akron Joint Board of Review. Sommerville was the president of Westside Neighbor and Cleveland Funeral Directors. He is a member of the Buckeye Funeral Directors, the NAACP, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and a 33rd degree Mason. In 2019, he was appointed to the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, becoming its chair in 2022. In 2022, he also was appointed honorary chair of the Akron Bicentennial Commission.

Sommerville has received numerous awards for his achievements. These awards include the Leadership Extraordinaire Award from the Akron Urban League in 1985, the Appreciation Award from the Akron NAACP in 1990, the Summit County Government on the Move Award from Summit County in 1992, the Summit County Democratic Party Democrat of the Year Award in 2002, the Ohio School Boards Association President’s Award in 2006, Akron’s Project Grad Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, Kent State University Black Alumni Chapter’s Community Service and Leadership Award in 2023, and the TriCounty Regional Labor Council’s Peter Bommarito Community Award in 2023.

Sommerville and his wife, Debra, reside in Akron, Ohio. They have three children, Marco, Shayla, and Margo.

Marco Sommerville was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 31, 2023.