Washington County Judge Mark E. Mascara likes to joke that he doesn't have to worry about being busy on weekends.

That's because family matters are very important to him away from the courtroom, just as they are on the bench.

"My parents, siblings and extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) all have had a tremendous impact on me," said Mascara, the son of Frank R. and Dolores Mascara, of Charlero. "We are a very close-knit family."

The judge's father is a former Washington County controller and commissioner and served in Congress for eight years.

"He is my mentor," Mascara said of his father. "I have such respect for him and all he accomplished under very difficult circumstances. He worked so hard for everything, as his parents died when he was very young. For him to become a prominent congressman is just amazing. Compared to his trials and tribulations, I have a very cushy life.  

"My mother has devoted her life to her family, although she was first in her class in both high school and college and cold have done anything she wanted professionally," Mascara added with more than just a hint of pride in his voice.

Mascara is married to the former Lisa Torri and his children are Kylie Mascara, a student at Waynesburg College; Mariah, 10; Jameson, 8, and Samuel.

"At 16 months old, Samuel is frequently, and unfortunately, mistaken for my grandchild," Mascara said, smiling. "I tell people this is one 'grandchild' that never goes home!"

Family gatherings are very much a part of life for Mascara.

"We are expected to call if we are not bringing the grandchildren for Sunday dinner at my parents' home in Charleroi," Mascara said. "My wife is my closest friend and confidant and she has shaped me tremendously. She also has a huge, close-knit family with five brothers and sisters, all of whom are dynamic and highly successful. A weekend doesn't go by where we aren't attending some family event. I am blessed with a few very close friends who are more like family than friends who also have shaped me. I learn from my children daily. I also have some dear friends that are ministers who have had a tremendous impact on my spiritual journey."

As a judge, Mascara said, he has attempted to style himself after "one of the best judges" Washington County ever produced -- Sam Rodgers.

"He was always prepared and always a get-to-the-point kind of guy," Mascara said. "A lot of attorneys were a little intimidated by Sam. I loved him in the sense I knew I was not going to be wasting any of my time in his courtroom."

Mascara, a 1974 honors graduate of Charleroi Area High School, received a bachelor's degree in economics with honors from Washington & Jefferson College and his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1981. The road to the law degree was not a smooth one.

"I worked for a bankruptcy law firm in Pittsburgh while attending Duquesne Law School and taught paralegal classes, also while attending law school on a full-time basis," Mascara said. "I literally had to run from teaching class to attending class my final year at Duquesne. I got up at 3:30 or 4 a.m. to prepare for my teaching classes."

Mascara said his original decision to go into law was "the pursuit of a respected profession in which I could make a good living.

"I immediately realized, however, that there was a lot more to the profession than money," he said. "Every year I took on a major pro bono (at no charge to the client) case. It felt right and I knew it was just the right thing to do. It was as if I was placed with the right client at the right time and I was in a position to help someone in extraordinary need."

Prior to becoming a judge, Mascara worked as a practicing attorney in various capacities. He was a full-time law clerk for the Pennsylvania Board of Claims, a quasi-judicial board that sits in Harrisburg and hears disputes involving contracts with the Commonwealth. When he left that position, he was the senior staff counsel and wrote "voluminous and complex findings of fact, conclusions of law, opinions and orders."

"The writing and research skills I honed there, along with a stint as a law clerk for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (fresh out of law school) enabled me to keep my head above water as the only family law judge in Washington County for two years," Mascara said.

Mascara was permitted to have a private practice when not in Harrisburg and specialized in construction litigation, contract disputes and municipal law. His municipal clients included the Washington County Industrial Development Authority, where he handled tens of millions of dollars in bond financing for local businesses, as well as Charleroi and New Eagle boroughs and Union Township. He also handled a small amount of criminal and divorce cases.

"I was very busy as a lawyer," Mascara said. "It was again that experience, in the face of overwhelming work hours as a judge, that kept me saying, 'I can do this.'"

Mascara has not forgotten his roots and growing up in a small-town setting.

"I'm proud to hail from Charleroi," he said. "It saddens me that the town is struggling. I worked very hard as the solicitor for many years in an effort to make things better. I think much of who I am today also stems from my experiences growing up in the Valley. You always knew, and you still do to this day, where you stand with someone from the Valley. In this politically correct society, someone from there will look you in the eye and tell you, 'I don't like you!' I love that."

To the extent he has had "some success" as a judge, Mascara gives credit to his staff.

"They have worked very hard and stayed with me on many long days," he said. "I couldn't have done it without them. When I ran for judge, I told my wife after I won that I would have more time at home and could help out more around the house. With my family law assignments, days turned into weeks, weeks into months and soon two years went by. I was working almost as hard as a judge as I did as a lawyer. We had a new baby in the middle of all that. I owe my wife big time."

In juggling his responsibilities on the bench and as a father and husband, Mascara remembers something his father taught him years ago.

"I learned from my father that one person can truly make a difference," he said. "There are a lot of things that government does right, but certainly not everything. I have tried to make a difference.

"I think the best we can do is impart moral values, a distinct sense of what is right and what is wrong, on our children in preparation for marriage and parenting," Mascara concluded. "If some can pass on those values and choose to do so without religion as an issue, I wish them well. But for my family, faith is an integral part of the process. We must set a good example for our children.

"I am not shy about any of this stuff and told anyone who would listen the same thing when I was running for office. I am a Christian but one of my most interesting supporters was the rabbi at Beth Israel Synagogue in Washington. I think he liked the fact that I had the chutzpah to say these things in the middle of an election."