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RiverWoods Resident Recognized as Part of Procter & Gamble Anniversary Celebration

November 1, 2006

Naomi Peters, a resident at RiverWoods Senior Living Community, has suddenly become very popular with the media when she was interviewed by a television station in her apartment.  Procter & Gamble (P&G), Mehoopany, is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, and Naomi was one of the company’s first employees.

In January 1966, Naomi started her career in Mehoopany, Pa., a small town near Tunkhannock, as a secretary at a company known as Charmin Paper Products, a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, later taken over by P&G.  She thought she’d only be working for two weeks until the permanent secretary started, but she was wrong; she ended up staying for almost 20 years and was the first salaried employee at the Mehoopany location.  In the beginning, employees worked out of three farmhouses – one for the engineering crew, one serving as the early office, and the other serving as the Industrial Relations/Human Resources (HR) office; Naomi worked in the HR building.  Their first product, “T-85,”as it was called by all of the workers, is now known as Pampers.

Naomi held the title of secretary for about five years, signing up new employees and attending TEAM meetings, which allowed her to keep in touch with the people she helped in hiring.  Then she moved into the human resources department where she stayed for her remaining time at the company.  In her new position, she was responsible for managing employee benefits, such as insurance policies and pension plans.  Naomi thoroughly enjoyed her work and got to know almost all of the 3,000 employees.

“Procter & Gamble was such a great company to work for,” said Naomi.  “There was a  closeness among the employees; we thought of each other as family.”

P&G is a strong supporter of continuing education and offered tuition reimbursement to its employees and awarded scholarships to the children of the staff.  They often backed technician courses at Keystone College.

The company also has a strong following by its retired workers.  They meet four times per year and take part in many activities, such as building and redecorating a float that appears in Tunkhannock area parades.  The retirees also organize summer picnics, which usually attract 300 to 400 people, and a Christmas party.

Naomi’s first husband, Walter Ross, passed away in February of 1970.  She attended accounting classes at Scranton University four nights per week for about two years.  In 1972, she married David Peters, and inherited five stepchildren with whom she became very close.  She has lived at RiverWoods since October 2001, starting out as a cottage resident and then moving into an apartment when the construction was complete.  Naomi very much enjoys living at RiverWoods and has made many friends over the years.

Procter & Gamble now employs over 98,000 people in 80 countries worldwide with consumers in 140 countries.  They have one of the largest and strongest portfolios of trusted brands including, Bounty, Ariel, Tide, Pampers, Always, Charmin, and Folgers.  For more information, please visit www.pg.com.