Edna M. Cadigan, a retired state comptroller's office secretary, died of heart disease Feb. 29 at the Pickersgill Retirement Community. The former Rodgers Forge resident was 97.

Edna May Foster was born in Baltimore and raised in the Patterson Park area. She attended St. Bridget's Parochial School and earned a diploma at Strayer Business College.

In 1929, she married Timothy J. Cadigan, a manager for the A&P; grocery stores, who died in 1943. She raised her two sons and, to prepare for the job market, she practiced her shorthand skills by listening to radio shows and transcribing the words. She also wrote scripts for radio broadcasts and had two accepted for The Kate Smith Show.

When Maryland created a retail sales tax division in the late 1940s, she became a secretary and rose to become head secretary in her division. She later became secretary to Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein. She retired in 1974.

Family members said she wrote many of Mr. Goldstein's speeches and occasionally represented him at political functions. "My mother was a courageous person who never mentioned or complained about all the sacrifices she made or the hardships she endured," said her son, retired Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert E. Cadigan.

In her free time, Mrs. Cadigan did pastel drawings.

A memorial Mass will be offered at 10:30 a.m. March 24 at the Roman Catholic Shrine of the Sacred Heart, Smith and Greeley avenues in Mount Washington.

In addition to her son, survivors include eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. A son, Richard F. Cadigan, died 2001.

Jacques Kelly