“I had to use my mother voice today,” Marilyn Horan says with her everyday soft-spoken-with-a-smile poise.

Butler County's first female judge pairs her robe with all the hats she wears — mother of four, daughter, community activist and cancer survivor.

Gratefully.

“I'm blessed to love it all,” said Horan, a 59-year-old Butler resident. “I'm happy 100 percent of the time.”

Recognizing Horan's trailblazing career, the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession has selected her as the Anne X. Alpern Award winner. The award is presented annually to a woman who demonstrates excellence in the legal profession and makes a significant impact on women in the law.

It's a huge honor, but it's only one of more than a dozen bestowed upon the petite judge who's tried hard to “fly under the radar” during her three-and a half-decade career.

“I hope people find a message in this,” Horan said in agreeing to talk about her life and career, both of which have been marked by perseverance. “Being a judge is what I do, not who I am.”

Life, Horan said, has been full of challenges and without regrets.

“You can either forge forward or fold up tent,” she says. “And anyone who know me knows I don't fold up tent that easily.”

The youngest of five children, Horan is the daughter of Della and Eugene Horan. Her first hurdle came when she was born: birth defects in her bile ducts would cause lifelong pain and need for medical intervention.

Horan describes herself as particularly close to her mother, who mainly raised her as a widow. Eugene Horan was one of four people killed when lightning hit a pavilion at a golf outing for Armco employees in June 1964.

Horan was 10.

“That really galvanized my family. We are very close,” said Horan, who described her own mother as resilient, determined and forward-thinking.

With an initial ambition of becoming a probation officer, Horan, who graduated Butler High School in 1972, went on to study criminology at Penn State University. Instead of becoming a PO, she earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1979.

“The intellectual challenges (of court) are compatible with my analytic mind,” Horan explained.

After law school “I came home,” said Horan, who spent 17½ years with the law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach & Horan. There, she practiced all areas of law including civil and family law matters.

She became judge by appointment from then-Gov. Tom Ridge in 1996. She and George Hancher were appointed to fill openings created by the retirements of Floyd Rauschenberger Jr. and John Brydon.

Both judges were then elected to their first decade-long terms, beginning in January 1998.

Although Horan was the first woman to take the title “Your Honor” in this county, she said she never received anything but respect from the bar.

“It's very appropriate that Judge Horan receive the Anne X. Alpern Award in that Alpern was the first woman to hold the position of Supreme Court Justice in Pennsylvania, and Judge Horan was the first woman to hold the position of judge in Butler County,” said Thomas Doerr, Butler County's President Judge. “There is no doubt that both women have made a significant positive impact on the judiciary of Pennsylvania.”

Joan Chew, Butler County's first female commissioner, said Horan's work ethic and integrity transcend any gender-related questions.

“I don't know of anyone who doesn't have the highest respect for her,” Chew says.

Horan believes she has three qualities that make her a good judge: principle, preparedness and predictability. “I think people know when they walk into my courtroom they are walking into a fair playing field,” Horan said.

It also helps, she admits that being a mother sharpened her mediation skills.

Horan married Joseph Caparosa, who owns Family Bowlaway with his brother, in 1985. The couple's children are Lydia, 25; Joe, 23; Laura, 22; and Monica, 20.

“She's an amazing woman,” said Caparosa. “I've never met anyone who can keep so many balls in the air at the same time. And it all comes out good. And from my perspective? She's been the perfect mother and wife. We've been married 29 years. I don't know where the time has gone. It's gone so smooth.”

Horan and Caparosa received the “Parents of the Year Award” for Butler County from the National Parents' Day Foundation in Washington, D.C., in 1999, 2005 and 2007.

Although the children have always been welcome in the courtroom, Horan said, “it was never really a big deal what I did. I was never anything but 'mom' to them.”

“It was a team effort in raising my children and working full time,” Horan says. “My mother helped a lot.”

Della Horan, who would swoop in and help with the kids or start dinner, had a debilitating stroke in 1997 at 87. She moved in with the judge and her family until her death seven years later.

“She helped me raise my children until her stroke and then my children helped care for her,” Horan says. “Those were challenging years, but so rewarding.”

Horan's own health struggles have included surgeries for her birth defects. And three years ago, while undergoing another procedure, doctors discovered Horan had cancer in her bile ducts. The early diagnosis, two surgeries and chemotherapy followed, leaving Horan more healthy than she's ever been.

Not only did the procedures clear her of cancer, but they also appear to have fixed the bile duct issues.

“I'm absolutely healthy now,” Horan said. “That's all behind me, and I'm not looking back.”

Still, the cancer scare changed her mind set just a bit.

“Little things in life pale to me now,” said Horan, who attends St. Fidelis Catholic Church and names water and snow skiing as a hobbies. “My energies are focused on enjoying life.”

Horan said she's also cherished the opportunity to bring positive change to the lives of individuals as well as the community.

She's been active in many community programs, including the Community Health Clinic of Butler, the YMCA, the American Cancer Society, the Community Health Assessment Policy Council, the Butler County Head Start Policy Council and the Center for Community Resources.

“I'm a good organizer and my priorities are clear,” said Horan, who quickly names them in order: family, faith and profession.

As for the future, Horan said the idea of retirement hasn't crossed her mind.

“That's nowhere in my horizon,” said Horan. “I'm full speed ahead. Guns a'blazing.”