Businesswoman. Born Margaret Fogarty in Manhattan, New York, she was an enterprising lady noted as one of the great business leaders of her time. She graduated valedictorian of her high school class and then spent nine years working in New York before marrying Wall Street Broker Henry Rudkin in 1923. In 1929, the same year of the start of the Great Depression, she and her family moved to Pepperidge Farm in Fairfield, Connecticut. There she decided to try baking some all-natural stone ground whole wheat bread with vitamins and nutrients. She started selling her "Pepperidge Farm" breads in area grocers and by 1939, Pepperidge Farm breads production soared to one million loaves. Her operation thrived and she founded Pepperidge Farms Incorporated in 1940, with its first real bakery factory in 1940. During the 1950s, her products included different variety breads, fancy pastries and a line of cookies. In 1961, she decided to sell the Pepperidge Farm Company to another family-run food company, Campbell Soup. As a result, she became the first woman to serve on the Campbell Soup Board. Her “The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook” was published in 1963 and was the first cookbook ever to make the bestseller list of The New York Times. She died of cancer at the age of 69 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Businesswoman. Born Margaret Fogarty in Manhattan, New York, she was an enterprising lady noted as one of the great business leaders of her time. She graduated valedictorian of her high school class and then spent nine years working in New York before marrying Wall Street Broker Henry Rudkin in 1923. In 1929, the same year of the start of the Great Depression, she and her family moved to Pepperidge Farm in Fairfield, Connecticut. There she decided to try baking some all-natural stone ground whole wheat bread with vitamins and nutrients. She started selling her "Pepperidge Farm" breads in area grocers and by 1939, Pepperidge Farm breads production soared to one million loaves. Her operation thrived and she founded Pepperidge Farms Incorporated in 1940, with its first real bakery factory in 1940. During the 1950s, her products included different variety breads, fancy pastries and a line of cookies. In 1961, she decided to sell the Pepperidge Farm Company to another family-run food company, Campbell Soup. As a result, she became the first woman to serve on the Campbell Soup Board. Her “The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook” was published in 1963 and was the first cookbook ever to make the bestseller list of The New York Times. She died of cancer at the age of 69 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith