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He passed at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 3:30 a.m., his wife Debbie Smithgall, told LNP.
In a post on Facebook, his daughter Allison Smithgall wrote:
"It is with the utmost sadness that I wish to share that my dad passed away about an hour ago … Charlie Smithgall was the best dad, husband, poppop & friend anyone in the world could have asked for. He loved his family, he loved his farm and loved his cannons. He loved being the mayor of Lancaster. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge and humor. If you knew him you were a lucky person because he always cared about others more than he did himself."
Smithgall was a pharmacist who survived an armed robbery in 2018, that sent him to the hospital where he learned he had kidney cancer. It is unclear if his cancer was connected to his passing.
In addition to running a small business, he served as the city's mayor for two terms from 1998 to 2006.
Major accomplishments in the city during his tenure in the office include the convention center, a new police station, Red Rose Transit Authority's Queen Street Station, Clipper Magazine Stadium and Binns Park, Lancaster Online reports.
Smithgall collected Civil War memorabilia, focusing on artillery. His collection included two canons featured in the movie "Gettysburg," according to numerous reports.
He is survived by his wife Debbie, daughter Allison, and two grandchildren.
Funeral and memory service details have yet to be released.
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