SCITUATE, R.I. (WPRI) — A retired R.I. State Police major and the state’s first lottery director passed away just shy of his one hundredth birthday.
After 25 years, Peter O’Connell retired as a major from the Rhode Island State Police and spent his career working for the late Walter Stone.
O’Connell became the director of the Rhode Island lottery in 1974 and remained in that role until retiring in 1993.
He was inducted into the Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame in 2014.
O’Connell lost his 85-year-old wife Francis in January.
Peter O’Connell passed away Wednesday. He was 99-years-old.
