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By DIETER BRADBURY Online Reporter December 3, 2007

SOUTH PORTLAND — Jack and Susan Gibson spent a lot weekends in the kitchen during the 36 years they were married, perfecting the shortbread recipe she brought from her grandmother in Scotland.

Susan died of cancer in 1989, and Jack, a successful businessman, gave $2 million in her memory to help create an adult oncology unit at Maine Medical Center, the Marshall L. and Susan Gibson Pavilion.

Now the family shortbread recipe is giving birth to a new legacy of giving.

At the age of 78, Gibson has established a commercial-scale bakery to produce shortbread, baked according to the family recipe, for sale in supermarkets, restaurants and other retail outlets.

Granny Kirkwood’s Bakery - named after his late wife’s grandmother - will donate all of its profits to Gibson Pavilion, the 44-bed unit where Gibson is a frequent visitor with patients and staff.

“I can’t stay idle,” Gibson says of his new venture. “This is going to help the hospital, and help the people who work here at the bakery, too.” Hannaford Bros. Co. recently began selling the shortbread at four of its area stores, in west Falmouth, Forest Avenue, Mill Creek in South Portland and Scarborough. Gibson has also lined up smaller outlets, such as the cafeteria at Pineland in New Gloucester.

It’s too soon to estimate what kind of money the bakery will generate for the cancer unit, says the bakery’s marketing manager Mary Sheldon. “It’s doing OK,” she said, “but it’s only been a few weeks.”

However, she and Gibson are confident the venture will succeed.

If Gibson’s past is any guide, there’s reason for optimism. As the chief executive officer of Commercial Paving and Recycling Systems, a company he sold about three years ago, Gibson was a highly successful businessman. The gift he and his wife made to help establish Gibson Pavilion, which opened in 1978, was the second-largest individual gift the hospital had received.

His largesse extends throughout the community, where he has lived since 1942. Hospice of Southern Maine, Center Day Camp in Windham and the Liberty Ship Memorial in South Portland are just a few of the programs that have benefited from Gibson’s generosity.

He says he took his time with the bakery, located in the former Durastone concrete plant on Wallace Avenue, which Gibson bought and cleaned up for reuse as a warehouse and other commercial activities.

He bought recycled baking equipment and hired six employees, including the Piscopo family, which formerly operated a bakery in Cape Elizabeth. He tinkered with the production process so he could be confident of high quality at commercial volumes. And to the basic shortbread recipe he added variations, such as pecan, cinnamon chip and peanut butter chip.

Initially Gibson publicized Granny Kirkwood’s shortbread through his own networks, sending letters to about 2,500 friends, family members and business associates across the continent. He posted a link to the bakery Web site on Maine Med’s own Internet site and began putting the shortbread in hospital cafeterias.

Earlier this month, the shortbread finally went big-time, showing up in the bakery departments of the four Hannaford stores. Gibson says he is grateful to Hannaford executive Ron Hodges, who serves on Maine Med’s board of trustees and is a strong supporter of the institution. “They were very kind to open the door for us,” he says of Hannaford.

Emma Dann, nursing supervisor in the Gibson Pavilion, says Gibson is a revered figure in the unit, a benefactor who gives with his heart as much with as his bank account.

“He’s probably one of the most caring people I’ve ever encountered,” she said. “He connects on a personal level, and now through the bakery he is giving even more.”

The bakery now runs one eight-hour shift a day, producing about 1,000 of the rich, buttery cookies, which sell individually for $1.50 and in packs of four or six for $5.85 and $8.50, respectively. Gibson says he’ll wait to see what the demand...