Phyllis L. Marchand, the former mayor of Princeton, NJ, died March 25, at 81, at her home in Princeton.

Mrs. Marchand was a public official in Princeton Township for 22 years and was appointed mayor for 13 nonconsecutive one-year terms. That made her the township’s longest-serving chief executive, according to records dating to 1900, and earned her the unofficial title “mayor for life” until she retired in 2008.

She was widely known throughout central New Jersey for her energetic involvement in issues like affordable housing, the arts, social services, women’s rights, Jewish education and land preservation. She was severely criticized, however, for instituting a program to reduce the deer population that was running rampant and causing accidents. Critics said shooting was cruel, and that other methods to cull the birth rate were more humane. In the end, the program reduced collisions between deer and vehicles by 40 percent and, two decades later, the town is still using the services of the original contractor.