Sheppard Becomes County’s 21st Surrogate Dec. 31

COURT HOUSE – Freeholder Vice-Director M. Susan Sheppard will become the 21st Surrogate and the first female Surrogate in Cape May County’s history at Noon on Dec. 31, 2012. Vice-Director Sheppard will be sworn-in by New Jersey Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Gibson at the Old Courthouse located at 11 North Main Street in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.
M. Susan Sheppard was elected on Nov. 6, 2012 by the voters of Cape May County for a five-year term as Surrogate – one of three Constitutional Officers in Cape May County. Sheppard will replace W. Robert Hentges who has served as Surrogate of Cape May County for more than forty years, having first been elected to the position in 1972.
Currently, Sheppard is serving as Vice-Director of the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders. She was elected Freeholder in November 2010. Sheppard, an Ocean City resident, also served as the 3rd Ward Councilwoman in the City of Ocean City from July 2008 until Jan. 4, 2011.
As Surrogate of Cape May County, Sheppard will be responsible for the probate of wills, the appointment of administrators of estates, guardians for minors and incapacitated persons and will also serve as deputy clerk of the Superior Court. Additionally, the Surrogate holds the Surrogate Court and is both the judge and clerk of that Court.
Sheppard is a 1988 graduate of Villanova University with a BS in Business Administration and a 1991 graduate of Widener University School of Law, Cum Laude. Sheppard was an Associate in the law firm of Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley specializing in labor and employment law. She was the managing attorney for the New Jersey Offices of McCabe, Weisberg & Conway, served as an Assistant City Solicitor in Atlantic City and runs her own law firm in Ocean City. She is married to Frank Faverzani and the mother of three school age children, Frank, Nora and Mark.
For additional information, please call the Communications Office at 465-1066.