Former Ohio Supreme Court justice honored with portraiture ceremony

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A special ceremony took place Friday in downtown Columbus, honoring retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton with a portrait dedication.

Attendees gathered at the Thomas J. Moyer Judicial Center in downtown Columbus to debut her portrait and honor Stratton's impactful career.

"I always believe that I was always able to, by not wearing a chip on my shoulder in being the first woman in many of these things, was able to pave the way for other women to get there as well," Stratton said. "My parents made me believe I could be anything I wanted to be."

Stratton served on Ohio's highest court from 1996 until 2013. After a childhood spent in southeast Asia, she returned to America at age 18 and worked her way through school. She earned a juris doctor degree from Ohio State's Moritz College of Law.

She began her legal career as a trial lawyer and, in 1989, because the first woman to be elected as a judge on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Justice Stratton was appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1996 and elected to her third term in 2008.

Justice Stratton also dedicated years of service to advancing mental health initiatives in the court system, both in Ohio and nationally.