Kathy Forsyth, Brendan Byrne's press secretary, dies at 73 – New Jersey Globe

Kathryn Forsyth, who served as press secretary to Gov. Brendan Byrne and as state director for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, died on May 2.  She was 73.

Forsyth had started in politics as an intern on Rep. Peter W. Rodino’s 1972 re-election campaign.  She was a press assistant for Byrne’s 1973 gubernatorial campaign and she became deputy press secretary when Byrne took office as governor in January 1974.

She became press secretary in July 1977, succeeding Richard Campbell, while Byrne was an underdog in his re-election campaign. At age 26, she became the first woman to hold the post — and youngest press secretary to a New Jersey governor – a record she held until earlier this year when  Gov. Phil Murphy named 25-year-old Natalie Hamilton.

Forsyth was among those who turned the lights off in the Byrne administration, departing in January 1982 after spending the entirety of Brendan Byrne’s tenure in the governor’s office.

In 1984, she joined the Assembly Democratic staff, and became communications director in 1986.   Forsyth was the spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Joseph Doria in 1990 and 1991.

In 1991, she left Trenton to become Lautenberg’s top New Jersey aide.

After leaving Lautenberg’s office in 1995, she became the vice president of a New Jersey lobbying firm.

Forsyth returned to state government in 2004 as the public information officer for the New Jersey Department of Education.  She remained there until Republican Chris Christie took office in 2010.

She is survived by her husband, Edward Liston, and her step-children and step-grandchildren.

A funeral mass will be held on May 8 at 10:30 at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church in West Orange.  Visitation will be held on May 7 at Danger Funeral Home in West Orange.