Rose Mary Woods December 26, 1917 - January 22, 2005

Rose Mary Woods, secretary to Richard Nixon and herself a figure in the Watergate controversy, died Saturday, January 22, 2005.

When a key White House tape in the Watergate case turned out to have an 18 1/2 minute gap, Woods testified that she accidentally erased the tape while transcribing it and taking a phone call. The picture of the "Rose Mary Woods stretch" showing how she would have been able to do this was treated skeptically, and she only claimed to have caused a short gap of three to four minutes, but neither Woods nor anyone else was ever charged with any crime in connection with the erasure.

Some obituaries of Rose Mary Woods:

• Rose Mary Woods Dies; Loyal Nixon Secretary - Washington Post
• Rose Mary Woods, 87, Nixon Loyalist for Decades, Dies - New York Times (free registration may be required)
• Nixon secretary who became Watergate figure dies - Chicago Sun Times
• Rose Mary Woods - Times Online (UK)
• Nixon Secretary Rose Mary Woods, 87, Dies - ABC News, Associated Press