Friends, family toast retiring district judge
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.
“I'm proud of my dad, and I'm proud of my brother,” Bill O'Donnell said.Kevin O'Donnell, whose district covers Butler Township, said he and his brother both walked into the job with a mindfulness on treating people with respect, as a result of years of watching their father. He said his brother has upheld that well.“Time flies,” Kevin O'Donnell said. “It's amazing how fast six years went.”Bill O'Donnell said fairness was his goal throughout his tenure on the bench.“My working relationship with the citizens and the police, I've considered myself fair,” he said. “I think I've earned their respect.”Bill O'Donnell said with his final day in office only a couple weeks away, he's looking forward to spending more time with his family. His wife, Sue, and his daughter, Fallon, attended Thursday's celebration.
“I've always known my dad to have a huge heart,” Fallon O'Donnell said. “That's why everybody showed up tonight.”Sue O'Donnell said she was proud of her husband and knew he was looking forward to finishing his end of the family judgeship tradition.“I'm so happy for him,” she said. “I know it's meant a lot to him these past six years. It's a wonderful way to end a journey.”
