Judge Bill O'Donnell celebrates at his retirement party at the Lyndora Hotel in Butler Township, Pa. on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. O'Donnell served as a judge for 28 years.

BUTLER TWP — Friends, family and colleagues celebrated the retirement of District Judge Bill O'Donnell Thursday night at the Lyndora Hotel.

A Slippery Rock resident, O'Donnell has served one term of six years as district judge of the Slippery Rock area district.

“I loved the job,” said O'Donnell, who greeted everyone who walked through the door. “I've come to realize I'm finally done.”

Before his judgeship, O'Donnell worked for 21 years in the county government as an administrator, working alongside county commissioners.

O'Donnell and his brother, District Judge Kevin O'Donnell, both became judges, following in the footsteps of their father, who served as a justice of the peace from the 1960s through the 1980s.

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