Retired Commonwealth Court Judge Madaline Palladino, first Republican woman elected to a statewide office in Pennsylvania, died Nov. 9, 2015, at her home in Salisbury Township. She was 91. She was the daughter of the late Joseph and Angelina (Trentalange) Palladino.

Known as a true trail blazer her entire life, she achieved many “firsts.” In 1983, she was elected to a full 10-year term to the Commonwealth Court and earned the distinction of being the first Republican woman elected to a statewide office in Pennsylvania. She was the first female assistant district attorney in Lehigh County and the first female assistant solicitor in the City of Allentown. After retiring from the bench in 1994, she served as the first woman to head the Law Department as Solicitor of Lehigh County. While she was actually the third female attorney to practice in Lehigh County, for many years she was the only female lawyer in the county.

She was salutatorian of the Class of 1941 at Allentown High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1944.

She earned a law degree from Columbia and was one of only two women admitted in 1945.

In 1987, on the Commonwealth Court, she wrote 212 decisions, at the time more than any in the court’s history. In 1992, County Executive Jane Baker, the first woman elected Lehigh County Executive, appointed Palladino to head up the county’s law department.

She served as president of the Allentown Branch of the American Association of University Women, Quota Club, Lehigh Valley Red Cross, Lehigh Valley Torch Club, Allentown Business and Professional Women’s Club and the Advisory Board of the Penn State University Allentown Campus. She sat on many boards.

She was designated a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania and is listed in Who’s Who of American Women.

She was a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.

She is survived by four nieces, Linda Oswald, Lisa Palladino-Ghaner, Cynthia Maund and Sandra; one nephew, Joseph. She was predeceased by two brothers and a sister.

Contributions may be made to the Allentown School District Foundation for The Honorable Madaline Palladino Scholarship Award for a senior girl with the highest academic rank at William Allen High School who plans to attend a four-year college. Please mail to the Allentown School District Foundation, 31 South Penn St., P.O. Box 328, Allentown, 18105.

Arrangements were made by the Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith Funeral Home, Allentown.