Southampton - The first woman ever nominated for national office by a national (Democratic) party as Vice President, Geraldine A. Ferraro, died Saturday, March 26, 2011, in Boston, MA, finally succumbing to complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that she had battled for over a dozen years.

Ferraro was a former Queens (New York) Congresswoman, and was nominated by the Democratic Party to run with presidential nominee Walter Mondale in 1984.

Overcome by a Ronald Reagan landslide, and up against the Republican choice of George Bush for Vice President, Ferraro nonetheless set the bar that would not be revisited again for another 24 years, when Governor Sarah Palin became John McCain's running mate. As a former criminal prosecutor, and a rather outspoken politican, Ferraro championed women's rights, and used her canny political skills to achieve a historic note in the country's history.

Ferraro was born on August 26, 1935, in Newburgh, NY, where she was the fourth child and only daughter of Dominick Ferraro and the former Antonetta L. Corrieri. Two of her brothers pre-deceased her, one who died before her birth, Gerard, is whom Ferraro was named after. After the death of her father, the family moved to New York City, where Ferraro attended Marymount College and Fordham Law School.

Continually plagued by inquiries and investigations into her husband's, John A. Zaccaro, business dealings, including ties to organized crime, Ferraro proved herself to be a worthy opponent in the national spotlight. Raised by a single mother, Ferraro waited until her own children where school age before entering the work force.

Ferraro is survived by her husband, three children, and eight grandchildren.