Federal judge receives award
Federal Judge Marilyn Horan shared insight with a group of professional women this weekend into how life's challenges and her faith shaped the person she is today.
Horan was guest speaker and recipient of the 2018-2019 Community Ruby Award at the annual Live Your Dream spring luncheon Saturday at the Butler Country Club. The event is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Butler County, a group of professional women who work to aid disadvantaged women.
“Life in the review mirror makes sense,” Horan told the crowd, which also gathered to applaud three women receiving grants from the club to help them achieve their educational goals.
Working through health, personal and family struggles instilled qualities she needed to meet other obstacles in her life, Horan said.
“The hard ones really force us to dig deep to make every negative a positive,” she said.
The journey for the Butler woman to a position on the U.S. District Federal Court, a five-year process that spanned two presidents and included two sets of rigorous vetting, taught her to pay attention and accept the difference between her time line and God's, she said.
“For me, it's spiritual and it has never let me down.”
Horan reminded the women and girls attending the event that the journey to success is often not easy. She recalled trying to earn money for college as a lifeguard at Alameda Park in the early 1970s when she was a young woman. She was not hired the first year; the second year she was the only woman hired and worked with six men; and the third year she was among four women and three men serving as guards.“A lot of women have paved the way,” she said, naming women's rights leader Susan B. Anthony and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as her inspirations.The former Butler County judge shared that many of her goals amazed her own mother, who wondered if her daughter would be a secretary to a lawyer after she graduated from law school.Horan spent 19 years in school, 17 years practicing law, 22 years on the state bench and six months on the federal bench. She's a mother of four children and wife to Joseph Caparosa. She still makes her home in Butler.Recently, Horan was invited with other newly-installed judges to have dinner at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Eight of the nine justices dined with them.“I was overwhelmed,” she told the audience. “My mother would never believe this.”Live Your Dream AwardsReceiving the $1,000 Live Your Dream Award was Shayla Lynam, a student at Butler County Community College.Lynam, a single mother, is pursing a bachelor's degree in social work and wants to become a domestic violence caseworker. In addition to her studies, she works 35 hours a week to support her son.
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up,” Lynam said.She credited hard work and her family and son's support in helping her overcome homelessness, a “toxic” relationship and drug addiction.Two $500 grants also were awarded to Carrie Motter, a BC3 student, and Lindsey Confer, who attends Mercyhurst University in Erie.A nursing student, Motter hopes to start her career at a veterans hospital “to give back to those who have given so much for us,” she wrote in her grant application. She is a single mother who works 25 hours a week and has had to overcome injuries from a serious car accident.Confer is studying for a bachelor's degree and wants to become a competitive intelligence analyst. The single mother of three — including twins — had to break away from an abusive relationship. She works evenings as a waitress and bartender to support her family while attending college.Club Ruby AwardThe Butler Soroptimists honored Chris Cassioli with the 2018-2019 Club Ruby Award for exemplary service to the group.A member since 2016, Cassioli is co-chairwoman of A Place to Lay My Head, a club program that furnishes apartments for women in need. Under her direction, five homes have been outfitted this year.She is also club treasurer and was chairwoman of last year's spring luncheon and awards ceremony.Cassioli, a nurse practitioner, has worked at the Jean Purvis Community Health Center since 2015. She and her husband, Terry, have a son and daughter and two grandchildren.Awards were presented by Marianne Hill, president; Lisa Rosenbauer, event co-chairwoman, and Mel Shewalter, awards committee co-chairwoman.
