MARTHA JANE GURDIN

Martha Jane Hosack Gurdin, 82 of Dallas, PA passed away on June 7, 2025 after a brief, severe illness. Martha was born on April 6, 1943, in Beaver Falls, Pa. Martha graduated as Salutatorian of Beaver Falls High School and received a full scholarship to Geneva College. She went on to earn her Masters in Speech Pathology from Bowling Green State University. In  1967, Martha was invited by a friend to go on a blind date. At the last minute, the original date canceled and Martha’s friend asked Steve Gurdin, a second-year law student to step in. They married in Detroit, Michigan. Friends predicted that the midwestern, church-going Methodist and fast-talking Jewish boy from Long Island would not last.

The couple settled in the Wyoming Valley and Martha began working as speech therapist in the Scranton School District. After her daughters were born, Martha took a job with the Institute for Human Resources and Services, providing speech therapy to clients with disabilities. Ten years later, Martha returned to the Scranton School District and remained until her retirement in 2010. If you asked Martha about her dream job, she would tell you that she had had it. Throughout her 40+ year career, Martha ensured that every student, especially those with the most challenging situations, felt loved and cared for. Whether it was the stash of healthy snacks she kept for students who did not get enough to eat, her advocacy to secure needed resources, the games she made to inspire better learning, the winter coats she discretely supplied, Martha never hesitated to show up and do the extras that made a difference.

Martha was a present, playful, and dedicated mother. She spent countless hours tutoring a daughter who struggled to read and bought a dozen shopworn prom dresses and repaired them so her daughters and their friends would have new dresses to wear to every formal. She made her home a supportive space for any teen who needed it and treated each of them as her own.

In retirement, Martha volunteered at the Back Mountain Memorial Library bookstore and curated the children’s corner with her characteristic zeal. She knitted with her friends at Gosh Yarn It, read voraciously, doggedly engaged in political activism, cherished lunching with her former speech colleagues and supporting friends facing challenges, and savored weekly Saturday trips to Zummo’s Coffee with Steve. Martha spent as much time as possible with her grandchildren. She was a marathon reader of picture books, a master-fort-maker, and competitive crossword-er kind of Grandma.

She will be missed by all who knew her for the expansiveness of her mind, the infectiousness of her hope, and her laughter.

Martha is survived by her husband of 55 years, C. Stephen Gurdin, Jr.,Esq., of daughters Kristen Gurdin and Lisa Dixon, son-in-laws Jonathan Croner and Dave Dixon, and grandchildren Eli and Ariel Croner and Ellie and Wyatt Dixon.

A celebration of life will take place at 11 am on June 29, 2025, (Martha and Steve’s 56th wedding anniversary) at Temple B’nai Brith, 408 Wyoming Avenue, Kingston, Pa 18704.

Donations in Martha’s name may be made to the Back Mountain Memorial Library, 96 Huntsville Road, Dallas, Pa 18612, https://backmt.luzernelibraries.org/donate/ or the Wyoming Valley Children’s Association, https://wvcakids.org/

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