Judge Horne, Journalist Morton Celebrated as Loudoun Laurels

Retired Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne and journalist Margaret Morton joined the ranks of Loudoun Laurels during a gala celebration at Belmont Country Club on Friday night.

The program recognizes individuals who exemplify the best of the traditions of public service and stewardship in Loudoun County. Since 2013, the Loudoun Laurels Scholarship Trust and its supporters have presented $40,000 scholarships to 11 students attending Virginia schools. Each scholarship winner receives $10,000 a year for four years provided their academic record meets standards.

Horne retired from the bench in 2013, at the time the commonwealth’s longest serving Circuit Court judge. He is a 1965 graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, and a 1969 graduate of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam. From 1980 to 1982, he served as the county’s commonwealth’s attorney. He first took the bench in 1982, and served for the next 31 years until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. Horne also was a driving force in establishing the 20th Judicial Circuit’s Law Camp, now named in his honor; the Loudoun County Legal Aid Society; and the drug court.

   

 Loudoun Now senior writer Margaret Morton is a 1958 graduate of Edinburgh University in Scotland. She moved to Waterford with her husband, W. Brown Morton III, in 1966. It wasn’t until 1992 that she entered the world of journalism, joining the staff of Leesburg Today. Morton has specialized in covering Loudoun’s towns, its environment, and its history for the past three decades. An active preservationist, she also served on Loudoun County’s first Historic District Review Board and on the Waterford Foundation board. Last year, she became a founding member of Loudoun Now.

Previously inducted Loudoun Laurels are Joseph L. Boling, Childs F. Burden, Stanley Caulkins, Dr. John H. Cook III, Fred E. Drummond, Kimball Hart, Edgar B. Hatrick, J. Hamilton Lambert, Joe T. May, James P. Roberts, Karen Hatcher Russell, Eugene M. Scheel, Robert E. Sevila, Lang and Judy Washburn, Su Webb, Cate Magennis Wyatt, and Paul Ziluca.