ROANOKE - U.S. District Judge Glen M. Williams is retiring after 34 years in the position.

Williams said Friday that he will step down Monday.

Williams was appointed a part-time U.S. commissioner in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in 1963. President Gerald Ford appointed him as a federal district judge in 1976. He took senior status in 1988 but continued to handle an active docket.

A decorated naval officer in World War II, Williams later practiced law in Jonesville, where he still lives.

Among his accomplishments as judge was the reopening of the federal courthouse in Big Stone Gap. His former law clerks include Virginia Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kinser and George Allen, former governor and U.S. senator.