Donald R. McKay got his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and considered hanging a law shingle in the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, he headed back home to start his law practice.

"I wanted to be a country lawyer and not a city lawyer," explained McKay, who is retiring as Hermitage School District solicitor after 50 years of service.

The country lawyer persona -- epitomized by his constant reassurance to school officials, "the Lord takes care of the feeble-minded" -- proved to be one of McKay's biggest assets as a lawyer. No matter how complicated an issue got, he tried to explain it in a way that a person without a legal background would understand.

Former Hermitage School District Superintendent Dr. Louis C. Mastrian recalled a story at a not-too harsh roast Friday showing just how simple McKay could make things.

Mastrian said he was informed that he would be hired as superintendent at the next school board meeting, and was invited to McKay's home to talk about his contract.

When Mastrian got there, McKay met him at the door, ushered him in and told him, "You sit there."

Two school board members, Dr. David Vermeire and Gene Martuccio already were there, and McKay asked Mastrian how long he wanted the contract to be.

Mastrian replied, "Four years," and McKay asked the school board members how much they wanted to pay Mastrian. They gave a figure that Mastrian said he was too scared to refuse, and McKay saw Mastrian to the door, telling him he'd mail Mastrian a copy of the contract.

Sometimes, McKay's attempt to find common ground can be a tad confusing. Mercer County Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman said McKay -- co-county solicitor, who handles litigation -- recently opened discussions with a corporate attorney by saying, "We have to decide here whether we have a sheep or a goat."

Brenneman said he didn't know what McKay was getting at and the corporate attorney just rolled his eyes, but McKay's proposal was eventually accepted.

To some extent, the country lawyer persona came from McKay's father, Leo H. McKay, who was a Mercer County judge from 1954-68.

Whatever the origin, "It worked," said Dr. Thomas R. Hawkins, former Hermitage school superintendent.

Referring to the other side of the country lawyer stereotype, Hawkins said, "He spends more time sleeping than he does as school solicitor. No wonder he lasted 50 years."

McKay, who will retire July 2 as solicitor of the Hermitage School District, wondered how he did last so long in a job that often is a victim of changing political whims.

The 74-year-old Pymatuning Township resident, interviewed in his log home overlooking the Shenango River Lake, said he "inherited" the job from his father, who had to vacate the post when he was appointed to the Mercer County bench.

The then-Hickory School District had seven school board members and they tended to be the "elder pillars of the community," said McKay, who favors big belt buckles and Wild Turkey whiskey with ginger ale.

Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to act as the servant of many masters, he said. School board members have gotten younger and more aggressive, often with specific agendas that included getting rid of someone in the district, he said.

"I'm not being specific to Hermitage," he said. "School boards all over are doing that."

With these "different personalities" to deal with, it's more difficult to maintain good relationships with each school board member, he said.

"I've been fortunate to always have a good rapport with at least a majority of the board. In the old days, it was all of them."

When McKay started, Hickory schools were in the middle of a building boom brought on by the end of World War II, while abandoning the plethora of one-room schools that primarily taught the younger grades.

McKay, who was nicknamed "Rabbit" in high school, supported the move away from one-room schools, which he said were not conducive to learning. The Hickory native had the experience of having spent first-grade in a one-room school, the No. 11 school on North Buhl Farm Drive, where County Market is now.

"There was no running water," he recalled. "Privies out back, boys on one side, girls on the other, and big knotholes in between."

He attended Maple Drive School for grades two through four, and attended the old high school, which has since been remodeled into the middle school, for the rest of his public schooling.

McKay, who got his undergraduate degree in political science and history from Allegheny College, Meadville, said he is proud of the district's various building projects over the years. He was involved mostly through financing and title work.

"It's just been a continuous building program over the years," said McKay, whose name adorns the high school fitness center.

McKay's philosophy as a school board solicitor was to work hard, but only on what he was asked to do.

Mastrian recalled McKay had told him: "I don't come to board meetings but you can call me if you need me. Don't schedule any meetings on Thursdays because that's when I play tennis."

"I try to keep a low profile and not run the district," McKay explained. "Most board members appreciate me not trying to be a 10th board member."

When an issue comes up that needs his attention, "I have always put school work first," said the father of two and grandfather of four.

"It's demanding because it's always a crisis call," he said of school issues like student expulsions or teacher grievances. "It's something you can't organize your time on. There may be periods where nothing happens and then it just pours."

Ever since the General Assembly approved collective bargaining in education with Act 195 of 1970, school work has poured more often. Negotiations take a lot of time and energy and, between the teaching and non-teaching unions, "You're always bargaining," he said.

Through all the changes the district has gone through, McKay said he has remained loyal to the six superintendents he has worked with in his 50 years.

"I've always enjoyed the superintendents. They've all been great people, in my judgment."

"I guess most of all, as a general rule, the administration and the solid old teachers are just wonderful people. Accordingly, it's been fun to work with them."

McKay, who will be replaced by H. William White III, timed his resignation from the district to coincide with the end of the school year.

He has three other current solicitorships -- with Mercer County and Hempfield and Coolspring townships -- that he will give up at the end of December.

"I'm working about half-time now," said McKay, who was a partner in the former Cusick, Madden, Joyce and McKay law firm from 1956-95, handling primarily litigation in personal injury cases.

McKay's been approached about teaching college and other law-oriented jobs once he ends his practice, but his only commitment is to retaining his law license.

"I've been trying to retire since 1995, and I thought I would long before this. No promises. I don't know what the future holds."

A wanna-be chainsaw artist and avid river canoeist and weight lifter, McKay is not likely to stay idle.

"He is distinctly not the retiring type," said his brother, Dr. David A. McKay, of San Francisco.

And his name will live on at the school district. The Artman Foundation, which funds school-related projects, has named a scholarship in his honor, said Carol Gurrera, the district's director of administrative services.