Megan Marshack, aide to Nelson Rockefeller who was with him at his death in 1979, dies at 70

Megan Marshack, an aide to Nelson Rockefeller who was with the former New York governor and vice president when he died under circumstances that spurred intense speculation, has died in California at age 70.

Marshack died on Oct. 2 of liver and kidney failure, according to a self-penned obituary posted by a funeral home in Sacramento, California. Her brother said she died at a live-in medical facility in Sacramento.

Marshack, who had a long and varied career in journalism, suddenly gained national attention after the four-time Republican governor collapsed and died of a heart attack on the night of Jan. 26, 1979. Shifting explanations regarding the details of that night fanned conjecture about the death of the 70-year-old member of the wealthy Rockefeller family and the nature of his relationship with his 25-year-old researcher.

It was originally announced that Rockefeller died in his offices at Rockefeller Center. But a family spokesperson later said Rockefeller had been working on an art book at his private offices elsewhere in Manhattan when he was stricken. There also were discrepancies with his time of death and who was with him. Marshack was not initially identified as being with him when he died.

Marshack kept quiet about what happened and became a “mystery woman” hounded by reporters. She told journalists outside her brother’s apartment in California, “I’m sorry, I have nothing to say.” Her abiding silence earned her a spot on People magazine’s list of the 25 “Most Intriguing Personalities” for 1979, along with actor Meryl Streep and author Tom Wolfe.

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After decades of silence, Marshack revealed a few tidbits about her interactions with Rockefeller in her obituary, which her brother Jon Marshack said she wrote last year. The obituary, which was first reported on by The New York Times, does not shed new light on the night of Rockefeller’s death or the nature of their relationship beyond work.

“All I know is they were very good friends. Beyond that, I don’t know,” Jon Marshack said in a phone interview Thursday with The Associated Press. “She never discussed it with me, and I never pried.”

Jon Marshack believes his sister signed a non-disclosure agreement.

She was working for the AP as a radio reporter in 1975 when she tried to get Rockefeller’s attention at a news conference in which he was answering questions in Spanish. After addressing him as “Señor Vice Presidente” and pressing her case in Spanish, she switched to English to ask Rockefeller her question about New York City’s fiscal straits, drawing laughter from the room full of reporters. The pair walked out of the room together, according to the obituary.

Marshack served as assistant press secretary for the vice president in 1976, Rockefeller’s last year in public office, and continued to work for him when he returned to private life. She remained his deputy press secretary, worked as the director of his art collection and took on other duties, according to her obituary.

She returned to journalism after Rockefeller’s death, working at the news syndication unit of CBS before she left New York, according to her obituary.

Marshack met her future husband, Edmond Madison Jacoby Jr., in Placerville, California, when they both worked for a local newspaper. They were married in August 2003 at the county’s courthouse, where she covered legal proceedings. He died before her.

She is survived by her brother.

Her obituary ends with a quote from “A Chorus Line” song: "... won’t forget, can’t regret what I did for love.”

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Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York.