Kathy Secker (born Catherine Barnfather; 18 February 1945 – 15 December 2015) was a British television and radio broadcaster, best known for her work at

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

and

BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio Newcastle is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Br ...

. During her early broadcasting career at Tyne Tees (1976-1984) she was usually credited as Cathy Secker.

Career

After she had worked as a secretary to an ENT specialist and as a

bank clerk A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. T ...

, her husband persuaded her to consider a career as a model, which proved to be successful. Secker became the face of an advertising campaign for the Northern Gas Board. In later years, she also fronted TV adverts for

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

stores in the North East. The popularity of the gas board campaign led to Secker's being offered a role as a

continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...

and newsreader for

in 1976. Following the 13-week 1979 ITV technicians' strike, Secker was the first presenter back on air on 24 October. She left the station in 1984, before returning to her continuity role in 1990. Secker was one of Tyne Tees' last locally based announcers — in later years, sharing duties as chief announcer with Bill Steel. She also presented the daily features ''Lookaround'' and ''The Birthday Spot''. When continuity from Newcastle ended in 1996, she made a permanent move to programming, presenting breakfast news bulletins and the magazine show ''Tonight'', alongside her own series, ''Kathy and Co''. Secker also contributed features for the nightly news programme '' North East Tonight'' before leaving Tyne Tees in 1998. In 1994, Secker became a presenter on BBC Radio Newcastle, hosting a Sunday afternoon dedications show. She made her final broadcast on the station on 29 November 2015, just over a fortnight before her death. She also ran her own business, First Impressions, offering women advice on style, beauty and fashion. She was a founder and patron of Grace House in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

working across the North East, providing support to disabled children, young people and their families.

Personal life

Secker was raised in

Bedlington Bedlington is a town and former civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 18,470 measured at the 2011 Census. Bedlington is an ancient market town, with a rich history of industry and innovative residents. Located roughly ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. She was married to childhood sweetheart Wally Secker from the late 1960s until the early 1990s, when they divorced. She later married Tyne Tees colleague James Whiteley in Kenya in 1997. She had two children with Wally Secker, a daughter, Jayne (born 1972), who is a presenter on

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

. and a son, David (born 1975).

Death

On 16 December 2015, it was announced she had died at home in

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

the previous day, aged 70. Secker was due to present her BBC Radio Newcastle show the following Sunday. A funeral service for her was held at the West Road Crematorium, Newcastle, on 30 December 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Secker, Kathy 1945 births 2015 deaths BBC radio presenters English radio presenters English television presenters English female models Radio and television announcers People from Bedlington British women radio presenters British women television presenters Models from Newcastle upon Tyne Models from Northumberland