Donald A DeCessna, 95, of Venice, FL, retired judge from the Wood County Court of Common Pleas, and long time lawyer in Perrysburg, Ohio, died Feb. 19th in Venice, FL.
Don was born in 1928 in Newark, Ohio to John W. and Georgia G. DeCessna.
Growing up, Don learned the value of hard work at a young age by working on his Uncle’s farm in the summers. In 1947, Don graduated from North High School in Columbus, Ohio and entered Ohio State University, graduating in 1951 with a BS in Business Administration. He then went to Ohio State University Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1953.
As an undergraduate at OSU, Don was in ROTC and in 1953, was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and served 2 years in the US Air Force in Cleveland, Ohio as an investigator for Security Clearances. From 1960-62, he was a Prosecutor for the City of Columbus. He then took a job at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office working under William Saxbe. Under Saxbe, he worked in the Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. It was there that he, on behalf of the State of Ohio, brought one of the first lawsuits against a company responsible for dumping chemicals into a river, resulting in a large fish kill. This was the start of the State of Ohio holding companies responsible for fish kills in Ohio rivers.
In a major case involving a border dispute between Ohio and Kentucky, Don, acting on orders from the Ohio Attorney General, used research going back to the 1700s to file a case with the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966. This case asked the Court declare and establish that the boundary line between the Ohio and Kentucky is “the low water mark on the northerly side of the Ohio River in the year 1792.” In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of The State of Ohio in this case.
In 1967, Don was hired to be a trial lawyer by a private Law firm in Perrysburg, Ohio, which became the Law Office of Leatherman, Witzler, and DeCessna. In 1982, he ran against an incumbent in the primary for Wood County Common Pleas Court Judgeship and won. Leading up to this primary, being the hardworking man that he was, Don visited almost every registered Republican voter’s home in Wood County, asking for their vote. Starting in 1982, Don was elected to three terms as a Common Pleas Court Judge in Wood County, Ohio and served until his retirement in 1998. As a Judge, Don ran an efficient and organized court and was given an award for the high number of cases that were tried in his court. Don also gave his trial jurors the opportunity to work hard, with some jury trials lasting until after 9pm.
Don married Mary Anderson in Nov. 1954, in Columbus, Ohio, and they spent their lives together until her passing in 2020. Mary and Don traveled extensively, visiting all 50 states in the USA and visiting many foreign countries, leading up to and during retirement.
Don was a member of many organizations during his life including being past President of: Wood County Easter Seal Society, Perrysburg Lions Club, Wood County Bar Assoc. and was a member of: Rotary Club, Exchange Club, and Masonic Lodge.
In his spare time, Don liked to use his hands to build and fix things. Some of his bigger projects included: In 1955, he built a pop up camping trailer, welding the frame and even sewing the canvas top together. Later his projects included building several stone fences at two of his homes. At age 65, he single-handedly re-shingled roofs on 5 rental properties and his own home.
Don liked to be organized. An example of this, was his wall of tools in his workshop. He built a peg board wall with special hangers for all his tools, leaving no wasted space anywhere on the wall. Next to this wall were shelves of glass jars of washers, screws, nut and bolts, etc., all sorted by size. Any mechanic would have been jealous, seeing how organized Don’s tools were.
Don is survived by his sister, Donna Lumb (Trevor), his son Jack (Sara), his son Brad, and daughter Denise, and his grandchildren, John and Laura.
Don will be laid to rest with his wife Mary in the Sarasota National Cemetery, Sarasota, FL.
