B.B. Sigmund; Princeton, N.J., Mayor

Barbara Boggs Sigmund, the colorful and eloquent mayor who finished second to Gov. Jim Florio in the 1989 Democratic gubernatorial primary, died early Wednesday, borough officials said. She was 51.

Mrs. Sigmund, who died at home, had been suffering from a recurrence of cancer.

She was the daughter of retiring U.S. Rep. Lindy Boggs, a New Orleans Democrat, and the late Hale Boggs, who was the House majority leader and was scheduled to become Speaker of the House when he was killed in a plane crash in 1972. Mrs. Boggs reportedly decided to retire from the House to spend more time with her daughter.

Mrs. Sigmund was first stricken with cancer seven years ago. A malignant melanoma was found behind her left eye and the eye was removed in 1982. She was elected Princeton’s first woman mayor in 1983.

After losing her eye, Mrs. Sigmund made her large collection of fashionable eye patches her trademark, coordinating them with the color of her outfits.

As a campaign gimmick during the primary, she distributed eye patches to businessmen, lobbyists and politicians boarding a Chamber of Commerce chartered train to Washington.

She was a former Mercer County freeholder and was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1982.