Winchester honored as Woman of the Year
Carol Brimm
The Journal Record recently selected Rep. Susan Winchester as the “2006 Woman of the Year”. This award was launched in 1981 to recognize outstanding women in the business community and has evolved over the years into a statewide event. Over 600 people attended a dinner in her honor at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City on Thursday night, Sept. 14.
“Representative Susan Winchester is a strong role model who has achieved significant accomplishments in her career and community,” said Mary Melon, publisher of the Journal Record. “She is everything a Woman of the Year should be.”
Each year 50 “Women Making a Difference” are selected from different walks of life from across the state. They represent excellence and dedication in their professional, civic, and personal spheres of influence. Out of the 50, one is recognized as the “Woman of the Year” for her achievements and contributions to the state.
Winchester, who attended the dinner with her husband Jim, was surprised to by the attendance of several family members, including her mother, Mary Spurlin, of Chickasha.
“I was excited. There are so many remarkable women in the state of Oklahoma, to be chosen is just an unbelievable honor,” Winchester said.
Winchester says her grandmother who ran the Chickasha Food Market for many years and later purchased an aerial spraying business was the most inspirational figure in her life.
“A career woman far beyond her time, she ‘shattered glass ceilings’ without ever knowing they existed; believed in the ethic of long hours and hard work; and instilled in me the belief that I was loved, I was special and I could do and be anything I ever wanted as long as I believed in myself and tried my very best,” Winchester said.
In 2005, Winchester proved that she could indeed become anything she wanted when she became Oklahoma’s first woman Speaker Pro Tempore – the second-highest position in the House. She is responsible for presiding over the House in the Speaker’s absence and also is an ex-officio voting member of all House committees.
“The responsibility of running the House of Representatives on a daily basis, coupled with the ability to have passed several significant pieces of legislation that hopefully will have a long-term impact on the future of Oklahoma has been a unique experience that I would never have anticipated and will never forget,” said Winchester, whose political career began in 1998.
Winchester was elected whip for the Republican House Caucus after her first term and was later named first assistant minority floor leader - .the second-highest position within the caucus and the only female member of the leadership team. She also is a member of the National Council of State Legislators and the American Legislative Exchange.
In 2005, Winchester was named one of 40 emerging state leaders from across the nation chosen to participate in the Toll Fellowship Program sponsored by the Council of State Governments. Winchester, a two-time honoree of The Journal Record’s 50 Making a Difference, received the 2006 Citizen Recognition Award from the Oklahoma Library Association and the 2006 Kate Barnard Award from the Oklahoma Association of Youth Services. In 2004, she received the Exceptional Commitment Award from the Oklahoma Academy of State Goals.
Before her career in politics, Winchester was an educator and a businesswoman in the agricultural industry. For more than a decade, she co-owned and operated American Dusting Co. and Chickasha Flying Service, selling the business in 1989. She then worked as coordinator of adult training and development of Canadian Valley Career Tech and then was the graduate programs coordinator for Leadership Oklahoma. In 1992, she started Winchester Group – an educational group that provides training and consulting for profit and nonprofit businesses, which is still in operation.
Winchester also is a member of the Chickasha, Mustang and Tuttle chambers of commerce, the Grady County Economic Development Council, Rotary International and the First Presbyterian Church of Chickasha.
Carol Brimm
The Journal Record recently selected Rep. Susan Winchester as the “2006 Woman of the Year”. This award was launched in 1981 to recognize outstanding women in the business community and has evolved over the years into a statewide event. Over 600 people attended a dinner in her honor at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City on Thursday night, Sept. 14.
“Representative Susan Winchester is a strong role model who has achieved significant accomplishments in her career and community,” said Mary Melon, publisher of the Journal Record. “She is everything a Woman of the Year should be.”
Each year 50 “Women Making a Difference” are selected from different walks of life from across the state. They represent excellence and dedication in their professional, civic, and personal spheres of influence. Out of the 50, one is recognized as the “Woman of the Year” for her achievements and contributions to the state.
Winchester, who attended the dinner with her husband Jim, was surprised to by the attendance of several family members, including her mother, Mary Spurlin, of Chickasha.
“I was excited. There are so many remarkable women in the state of Oklahoma, to be chosen is just an unbelievable honor,” Winchester said.
Winchester says her grandmother who ran the Chickasha Food Market for many years and later purchased an aerial spraying business was the most inspirational figure in her life.
“A career woman far beyond her time, she ‘shattered glass ceilings’ without ever knowing they existed; believed in the ethic of long hours and hard work; and instilled in me the belief that I was loved, I was special and I could do and be anything I ever wanted as long as I believed in myself and tried my very best,” Winchester said.
In 2005, Winchester proved that she could indeed become anything she wanted when she became Oklahoma’s first woman Speaker Pro Tempore – the second-highest position in the House. She is responsible for presiding over the House in the Speaker’s absence and also is an ex-officio voting member of all House committees.
“The responsibility of running the House of Representatives on a daily basis, coupled with the ability to have passed several significant pieces of legislation that hopefully will have a long-term impact on the future of Oklahoma has been a unique experience that I would never have anticipated and will never forget,” said Winchester, whose political career began in 1998.
Winchester was elected whip for the Republican House Caucus after her first term and was later named first assistant minority floor leader - .the second-highest position within the caucus and the only female member of the leadership team. She also is a member of the National Council of State Legislators and the American Legislative Exchange.
In 2005, Winchester was named one of 40 emerging state leaders from across the nation chosen to participate in the Toll Fellowship Program sponsored by the Council of State Governments. Winchester, a two-time honoree of The Journal Record’s 50 Making a Difference, received the 2006 Citizen Recognition Award from the Oklahoma Library Association and the 2006 Kate Barnard Award from the Oklahoma Association of Youth Services. In 2004, she received the Exceptional Commitment Award from the Oklahoma Academy of State Goals.
Before her career in politics, Winchester was an educator and a businesswoman in the agricultural industry. For more than a decade, she co-owned and operated American Dusting Co. and Chickasha Flying Service, selling the business in 1989. She then worked as coordinator of adult training and development of Canadian Valley Career Tech and then was the graduate programs coordinator for Leadership Oklahoma. In 1992, she started Winchester Group – an educational group that provides training and consulting for profit and nonprofit businesses, which is still in operation.
Winchester also is a member of the Chickasha, Mustang and Tuttle chambers of commerce, the Grady County Economic Development Council, Rotary International and the First Presbyterian Church of Chickasha.
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