Donora honors Rands as his time as police chief nears end

He will retire at the end of the year and take a seat on council in January.

After 35 years in uniform, Donora police Chief Neal Rands is closing one chapter of service.

But retirement won’t pull him away from Donora. It will just change the way he serves the borough.

The shift, which feels a bit bittersweet, became a little more real Thursday night when borough officials paused their routine work to recognize Rands’ long career and thank him for the steadiness he’s brought to the community.

Mayor Don Pavelko opened the tribute with a simple expression of gratitude that landed with the weight of a long relationship between a chief and his town.

“This evening the borough council and myself would like to honor a long-time borough employee, Chief Neal Rands,” Pavelko said. “Chief has served the borough of Donora for 35 years patrolling the streets of Donora. Here in Donora, he has been a familiar face to our citizens, almost always with a smile on his face and a cheerful conversation on his lips. Here is to a long and happy retirement.”

Council presented Rands with a plaque honoring his decades of service.

The gesture was formal, but the stories that followed were personal.

Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh stood next to Pavelko as he praised Rands’ commitment to his community.

Walsh nodded quietly. Growing up in Donora, Walsh said he can’t remember a version of the town without Rands in it.

“As you know, I was born and raised in Donora,” Walsh said. “… I don’t remember a day when Neal wasn’t an officer here.”

He shared a small snapshot from those years.

When Rands became a full-time officer, he lived just down the street from Walsh.

“So we (he and his siblings) were running around and we saw Neal a lot,” Walsh said. “He is a fantastic officer, very patient. Believe me, he was very patient with us, and it’s sad to see him go because in today’s day and age, it’s tough to find good officers. I think everybody can attest to that.

“So, if there’s a person who has surely earned to retire, it’s Neal. He’s put his time in and he’s done a great job.”

Borough Solicitor Steve Toprani followed with a lighter memory from his own years as district attorney, when Rands served on the county’s drug task force.

“Neal had a very big job there,” Toprani said. “He was the RAM that flattened all the doors when we would serve warrants. But truthfully, he rarely had to do that because Neal’s presence always commanded the appropriate authority. He had such a great way of defusing situations and getting people to comply. It has always been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing you up here on council.”

Rands kept his remarks modest, offering thanks to past and present borough leaders and focusing on the community that shaped him.

“My first day was Thanksgiving Day 1988 as a part-time police officer,” he said. “Then I was promoted to full time in August of 1989 and then, thanks to Mayor Pavelko, I was promoted to chief in 2022. I will hold that position to the end of the year, and then I will relinquish that to another officer and I will be on council.”

He spoke with care about his ties to Donora.

“But I want to thank the people of Donora for how well they have treated me and my family. I’ve never had a problem in all my 37 years of working here, my family’s never had a problem. It’s a nice, small community that has molded me into the police officer that I am and the person I am today. I was able to not just be an officer, but a friend of the people, and it was a very rewarding career, so I want to thank the residents of Donora, too.”

Retirement will end Rands’ long tenure with the department, but not his service to the borough. He will be sworn in to council at the borough’s reorganization meeting at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 5.