Butler County Commissioners Chairwoman Leslie Osche holds the Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award Wednesday night, Sept. 6, alongside and Nick Neupauer, left, president of Butler County Community College, and Jordan Grady, president of Butler County Chamber of Commerce. Osche was honored during Butler County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Celebrate Business Dinner at the Slippery Rock University ballroom. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle
When she took the stage Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the annual Celebrate Business Dinner hosted by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, Leslie Osche was missing someone — two someones, actually.
Osche, a Butler County commissioner, was honored with the second Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award, and she said she couldn’t have done what she has without her family. Sadly though, both her husband, Jim, and their son, Josh, were absent.
Josh Osche, a state trooper with Troop D in Butler, is recovering from serious injuries sustained in a crash in August. He was off duty when he came upon a crash on the Parkway West near Robinson Township and got out to help.
A passing motorist struck him while he was out setting up emergency flares. He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment.
Leslie Osche has previously praised Blair Johnson, a tow-truck driver who was involved in the original crash who helped get Josh Osche off the road and to safety.
Even as her son was being helped off the road, he called in to report both the first crash and the one where he was struck.
That doesn’t surprise his mother.
“Even as he was crawling off the highway, he was calling his own call,” she said Wednesday. “I would expect him to do that. It is an amazing inspiration.”
She also shared a story of her son’s dedication, which the crash and subsequent recovery has only strengthened.
“In this very quiet moment at the hospital, Josh said to me, ‘Mom, I learned that it is never about us; it is about somebody else,’” she said. “’I will come back, and it will be fine. Our shift is never over.’”
Leslie Osche, the second person to receive the leadership award, accepted it from Nick Neupauer, president of Butler County Community College. Neupauer was the first to be given the award, which is named for Stan Kosciuszko, who was a longtime president of the chamber.
The award goes to a Leadership Butler County graduate who has shown great leadership ability.
Leslie Osche praised the program, the people she works with and the county as a whole.
“I am so proud of the Leadership Butler County program,” she said. “I am so grateful to work for such an amazing community.
“I want to thank my colleagues. I could not work with better people. The gang at the county is an amazing group of people.”
Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the Butler County Commissioners, speaks after she is presented with the Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award on Wednesday evening, Sept. 6, at the Butler County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Celebrate Business Dinner held at the Slippery Rock University ballroom. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle
