Mimi Barash Coppersmith was the founder of Town & Gown magazine, a longtime community leader and volunteer, and the first woman to chair the Penn State Board of Trustees.
She was the fourth child of Max and Tillie Ungar, born June 11, 1933, in Wilkes-Barre. Her given name was Marian, but she was always known as “Mimi.” Her parents were Jewish immigrants and ran a grocery store in Wilkes-Barre.
She arrived in State College in 1950 to attend Penn State. As the editorial page editor of the Daily Collegian, she wrote a weekly column called “Strictly from Ungar,” that reported on race relations and student issues at Penn State. In 1953, she earned a degree in journalism.
The next year she married Sy Barash. They had two daughters, Nan and Carol. Her husband co-owned a small advertising agency, and she sold advertisements for various publications. In 1959, she and her husband founded an advertising and publishing company, the Barash Group, in the basement of their home.
In 1966, they launched Town & Gown, a monthly magazine with stories about life and things to do in and around State College and Penn State. They also purchased Morgan Signs, an Altoona-based billboard company.
In 1975, Sy Barash died after battling cancer for several years. That year, Barash Coppersmith founded the Barash Award for Human Service, which recognizes a Penn State faculty or staff member for their service work. In 1978, she married Pennsylvania Senator Louis Coppersmith. He died suddenly in 1989. Her 1990 marriage to Sam Fredman ended in divorce.
In 1976, Barash Coppersmith was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees, and she served until 1997, when she was named trustee emerita. In 1990, she was elected the first female chair of the Penn State Board of Trustees and served in that role for two years.
A dedicated volunteer and philanthropist, Barash Coppersmith was involved with numerous local organizations throughout her life. She helped promote Centre Safe and educated the community about their work for domestic and sexual violence survivors. She also served as the president of the State College Area Chamber of Commerce and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
In 1990, Penn State honored her as the Renaissance Person of the Year. She was also recognized with Penn State’s Distinguished Alumni Award—the highest honor bestowed by the university on its graduates. She won the Centre County Historical Society’s Award for Excellence in Education and Advocacy in 2015.
Beginning in 1996, Barash Coppersmith became known for her “Lunch with Mimi” column in Town & Gown, which featured interviews with notable members of the Penn State and State College communities. In 2008, she sold Morgan Signs to Lamar Advertising. She later sold Barash Media, the parent company of Town & Gown, to the Gazette Printers, an Indiana-based publishing company that also owns the Centre County Gazette.
In her 2018 memoir, “Eat First, Cry Later,” Barash Coppersmith described how her parents inspired her commitment to improving the community. She also reflected on hardships including the deaths of two husbands, discrimination as a female leader, and battling breast cancer.
She stayed on as a consultant to Town & Gown and continued her “Lunch with Mimi” column. In an interview with Town & Gown, she said, “I just want to wake up every morning ready to do what I love to do most, and that’s to help other people.” She concluded the column in September 2022.
She died September 14, 2025, at the age of 92.
Peter Williams
Sources:
“$500,000 Palmer Foundation Gift Honors Alumni Leader Mimi Barash Coppersmith.” Penn State News, September 13, 2023.
Coppersmith, Mimi Barash. Eat First, Cry Later. 2018.
Danz, Vilma Shu. “Community Catalyst: T&G Founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith Is Retiring, but Her Passion for Helping Others Is as Strong as Ever.” StateCollege.com, March 4, 2021.
Moyer, Josh. “‘A Big Heart’: How Centre County Will Remember Icon Mimi Barash Coppersmith.” Centre Daily Times, September 16, 2025.
“Penn State Mourns the Loss of Former Trustee, Community Icon Mimi Barash Coppersmith.” Penn State News, September 16, 2025.
First Published: September 9, 2026
Last Modified: September 17, 2026