Roanoke Judge Onzlee Ware, who rose from drug charges and a gunshot wound that cost him a leg to become a Virginia legislator and the first Black judge in the city’s Circuit Court, died Saturday, Feb.10, 2024, the Roanoke Bar Association reported.

The bar association did not give a cause of death, nor did a statement released by Ware’s family through two Roanoke attorneys who recently represented the judge.

Judge Ware, 70, was named to the Circuit Court bench in 2020, replacing Judge William Broadhurst. He was a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge since 2014 and, from 2003

until 2013, represented part of Roanoke as a Democratic member of the House of Delegates. Before that, he was an attorney in Roanoke.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Berglund Performing Arts Center, 710 Williamson Road N.E. in Roanoke. More details soon will be posted to www.hamlarcurtis.com.