PROVIDENCE, R.I. --- Former Rhode Island Secretary of State Susan L. Farmer, the state's first female general officer, has died, according to Lucie Raposo, public information manager for WSBE, Rhode Island PBS.
Raposo said staff members were told earlier Monday of Farmer's death by WSBE President David W. Piccerelli.
Farmer, 71, who had been fighting cancer for several years, served for 17 years as CEO and general manager of the station, Channel 36, retiring June 1, 2004.
A Republican from Providence's East Side, Farmer was elected secretary of state in 1982 and served two consecutive terms. She ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1986.
Farmer had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2001. Despite battling the illness for years, she remained active in Rhode Island politics and was a longtime member of the state Board of Elections.
Her husband, Malcolm Farmer, is a lawyer and former Republican City Councilman in Providence.
(The original version of this story was published at 3:43 p.m. It was updated at 4:03 p.m.)
In this Providence Journal video from May 2009, Susan Farmer talks about her returning cancer, life, illness, friendship, her career and her love of gardening.