SALEM (WSLS 10) - More than 100 judges and local attorneys will gather Thursday to honor retiring Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge Philip Trompeter. Â
Judge Trompeter has had an impact on thousands of lives. He is described by colleagues and local parents as someone whose presence will be missed.
Recommended Videos
He ruled on many kinds of family and juvenile cases, including tough child abuse cases.
Among his accomplishments, starting the the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program in the Roanoke Valley. The program is now run by Children's Trust.
It matches up children who have been abused with a volunteer. The volunteer works to make sure the child is safe and helps get them into a permanent home.
Hundreds of kids have been placed in safe, permanent homes in the last few years with help from the program.
Teresa Carpentieri of Children's Trust worked with Trompeter professionally. She also knows him on a personal level as he was the judge is her daughters adoption case.
Carpentieri says Judge Trompeter's presence will be greatly missed. "He has been that person in the Roanoke Valley that when you talk about kids and you talk about kids being safe, he is that person. He is that person that wants to make sure every kid has a chance," she says.
Trompeter was also a familiar face to many for his work leading drivers license ceremonies.
Judge Trompeter is being honored at the Hidden Valley Country Club Thursday evening.