Family ties apparent at Westmoreland County district judge swearing-in ceremonies

When it comes to electing district judges in Westmoreland County, the position sometimes remains all in the family — a fact never so obvious as at the swearing-in ceremonies Friday for judges who won their seats in the November election.

Of the nine district judges who were sworn into office at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, two are brothers, one is a son succeeding his father in Rostraver, and another is a daughter succeeding her mother in Ligonier.

A tenth district judge elected in November, Cheryl Peck Yakopec of Lower Burrell, had already been sworn into office.

The district judges officially take office at the beginning of the new year.

Charles “Chuck” Moore was reelected to the district judge’s post in East Huntingdon, while his brother, Henry L. Moore, has been serving the judicial post in North Huntingdon for the past two months. Former district judge Wayne Gongaware retired before the November election that Henry Moore won.

“I just hope we have made our parents and grandparents proud,” Henry Moore said following the 75-minute swearing-in ceremonies.

Chuck and Henry participated in each other’s ceremonies.

Senior District Judge Charles Christner, whose term expires at the end of the year, had the honor of swearing in his son, John, a former Rostraver Township police chief.

The senior Christner mentioned that he had been in several swearing-in ceremonies in a long career, having been appointed to the post and having won five elections, “but this is by far the best one” as he administered the oath to his son.

Ligonier District Judge Denise Snyder Thiel participated in the swearing in for her daughter, Allison E. Thiel, who won election to her first term as district judge, also in Ligonier.

The other district judges sworn into office Friday were incumbents Frank J. Pallone Jr. of New Kensington, Joseph DeMarchis of Jeannette, Chris Flanigan of Greensburg, Jason Buczak of Washington Township and Judith Potoka Petrush, in her first term, serving the Murrysville/Delmont area.

The ceremonies, scheduled to start at 10 a.m., were delayed for several minutes because Westmoreland County Senior Judge Al Bell was stuck in an elevator between the second and third floors of the old courthouse when there was a power outage.

Bell presided at the swearing-in ceremony for Henry Moore, who was his law clerk for 14 years.