Story Created:
Oct 14, 2009 at 11:37 AM AKDT
Story Updated:
Oct 14, 2009 at 11:54 AM AKDT
Longtime Alaska Rep. Richard Foster is being remembered as a strong advocate for rural Alaska and Nome who fought to improve the lives of those he represented.
The Alaska House Speaker's office says Foster died Tuesday. He was 63.
Foster suffered from a genetic kidney disease and died of a heart attack while undergoing kidney dialysis in Washington state. He was well-liked in Juneau, where a half-dozen people he worked with offered him their kidney when he became ill.
Foster, a Nome Democrat, served 11 terms in the legislature, beginning in 1988.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says she and Foster served together in Juneau. She says Foster's death is a real loss for the people of Alaska as well as the state.
