County Commissioner
I was born in Susquehanna at the old Barnes
Kasson Hospital I June of 1950, the fifth child of Myron and Mary DeWitt. It
was the year my great Aunt Nellie retired from the Navy Nurse Corp and she
accompanied my mom to the hospital.
I grew up on Franklin Ave. in
Susquehanna with three brothers and four sisters.
My father tragically died when I was
thirteen, a pivotal time in my life. As an adult I realize how important mental
health support is for people.
My mother went to an LPN program in
Binghamton so that she could support our family. This has made me realize how
important education is to single mothers and for all.
When I graduated from Susquehanna High School I attended college in
Binghamton, Broome Community (then called
Broome Tech) and received my A.A. Degree. I finished my B.S. degree at SUNY at
Plattsburgh. During my teaching career I received a Masters Equivalency Degree
from the state of Pennsylvania. I then returned to my hometown and taught at
Susquehanna Elementary for thirty-three years. Hopefully I started many
children on the way to loving reading and a start to their school careers.
Along the way I married, divorced and
remarried, Ron Rowe a Penelec lineman. We had two children, a son named Peter
and a daughter Elizabeth our youngest. Sadly Ron developed cancer and died
shortly after retiring.
Our children live in Susquehanna
County, one working as a mechanic for a company in Kirkwood, N.Y. And my
daughter doing home health care after training at Susquehanna Vo tech.
I became interested in local government when I
was appointed to fill a supervisor’s positioning Oakland Township, and have won
re-election once. I believe that working at the county level could effect the
future of the children and families in Susquehanna County and improve the job
market, help bring broadband service and establish community centers to all
areas of the country.
Dairy farmers have a long history in
Susquehanna County including my own family. Sadly many of these operations are
not making it. Isn’t it time that our county gave some help to farmers and we
explore with them New more profitable ventures , perhaps hemp growing and
production.
Our opioid and other addictive
substances have reached a crisis stage in our country and the present program
of incarceration seems to be a revolving door. Shouldn’t we explore and
initiate drug court which other neighboring counties have found some success
implementing. If we could save lives and help people turn their lives around
and thus those of their families and communities this would be again.
Wouldn’t it be a success story if
young people could say
“I choose to stay or return to Susquehanna county as there are opportunities
for my future, the county is growing with forward ideas and community spirit, our
clean air and beautiful parks, recreation and water ways are the best and we
care for each other no matter what any of us face in life”.