"I loved Richard Foster," a somber state House Speaker Mike Chenault said on Tuesday night. "He was a great asset for Nome and for rural Alaska. I think they've probably lost a gem in Richard.
"He was not a lot of talk but when he talked, people listened."
Foster, 63, was ailing badly, and had been in and out of the hospital. He had filed to run for re-election next year and his death was not considered imminent.
He had been at Harborview Medical in Seattle but was doing better and was going to be transferred to a facility in Puyallup, Wash., said Will Vandergriff, a spokesman for the state House majority.
"It's just sad," Vandergriff said.
Foster, a Democrat who caucused with the Republican-led majority, previously had a mild stroke as well as heart and kidney problems. A half dozen of his friends at the state Capitol had offered to donate their kidneys to him, and one, an aide to another legislator, had appeared to be a match. But Foster was never healthy enough for the transplant.
"It seemed like he was doing better but if you watched it over time it was always a little setback after setback," said Chenault, a Nikiski Republican.
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