From left: Montrose BPW President Susan E. Gesford receives the BPW/PA District 8 Woman of the Year designation from Committee Chair Joan Krysanski at the Spring Conference held April 5, in Olyphant.

Susan Gesford has been named the 2008 Woman of the Year for District Eight of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs of Pennsylvania

The announcement was made at the District 8 Spring Conference held April 5 at the Regal Room in Olyphant, Pa. District 8 includes the counties of Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming and part of Bradford County.

As president of the Montrose Club, Gesford was representing her local club at the conference where she was installed as First Assistant District Director. Gesford also took part in the District Eight Memorial Service that remembered her friend and mentor, Gail Golden.

Gesford's volunteerism, as well as holding the BPW offices of secretary and vice president, played a major role in her selection as District Eight's Woman of the Year. She serves as secretary of the Endless Mountains Medical Care Foundation Board; and as publicity and promotions co-chair for the EMHS Capital Campaign.

Gesford also represents Times Shamrock Week Group on the Montrose Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She also serves as a member of the Susquehanna County Big Brothers/Big Sisters Advisory Board and is a member of 'Friends of Susquehanna County.'

The domestic violence murder of co-worker Victoria Cleary in 1999 led Susan to be an advocate of the Women's Resource Center. In 2006, the Pennsylvania Coalition against Domestic Violence recognized Gesford as one of "30 Remarkable Women in Pennsylvania."

Gesford is well known in Susquehanna County for not only her community involvement but also for her position as editor of the Susquehanna County Independent, the Susquehanna County Weekender and the Pocono Shopper (all part of the Times Shamrock Weekly Group).

She began her newspaper work 10 years ago in the legal and obituary departments before moving to editorial. With the retirement of Joan Griffiths in 2005, Susan was promoted to editor.

Born and raised in Susquehanna County, Gesford is a graduate of Elk Lake High School. After raising her family she earned her paralegal certificate, and worked for attorneys in the Scranton area.

Gesford and her husband, Dennis, live on a dairy farm in Dimock. They are the parents of two sons, Corey and Susan Gesford, Nicholson, and Daniel and Jacie Gesford, Dimock, and have six grandchildren. She is the daughter of Carl and Marie Hibbard, Montrose, and the late Shirley VanDyke Hibbard.