Longtime Butler County judge dies at 77

An Oxford resident at the time of her retirement, Oney grew up in West Virginia, but did not begin her adult life as a law student. The eldest daughter of a physician, Oney earned her first degree in microbiology in 1965 from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in bacteriology in 1970 from the University of Kentucky.

In 1975, she took up law, earning a degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Oney began her legal career as an assistant public defender in Montgomery County, then moved on to private practice for 20 years in Butler County. Her first judgeship was in Area I Court in Oxford, where she served from 1993-99 before moving to her post in common pleas court.