Les Skramstad Passed away
Les Skramstad, the former mine worker who focussed attention on asbestos problem, died of an asbestos-related cancer Sunday, at 3AM. He was 70. He was one of the first to bring the plight of hundreds of Libbyans to the attention of local and state officials. A disastrous termination to a glorious life !
“He went to sleep and died very peacefully,†said Bonnie Goldsbury, Les' niece. “They've been in preparation for this for so long, and it's good the disease didn't extend itself any more.â€
Mr. Skramstad worked at the vermiculite mine from 1959 to 1962, before it was bought by the W.R. Grace Co. of Columbia in 1963. Skramstad had left the company before W.R. Grace bought it, but three years was long enough for him not only to develop the asbestos-related lung disease asbestosis, but also to spread it to his family.
It was earlier this month that Skramstad was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of asbestos-related cancer that usually affects the lining of the lungs. In Skramstad's case, however, tumors invaded his stomach, and a weekly procedure to drain the cancerous fluid had become a necessary, and painful, rite of survival.
He received a diagnosis of asbestosis in 1996, and he began noticing that 130 of the men he worked with 35 years earlier were dying in a strangely similar manner. He tried without success to alert local and state authorities, and finally sued W.R. Grace. He won the first jury award in Libby against the company. Through his amazing charisma and sincerity, he became a key victims' advocate for numerous people sickened from exposure to the asbestos particles.
Skramstad's wife and two oldest children, Laurel and Brent, continue to suffer from the disease, which causes thick layers of scar tissue to develop on the lungs, making it impossible to take an easy breath.
Though Skramstad was able to accept his own diagnosis unwillingly, he could hardly bear the reality when Norita and his children were diagnosed with the same lethal disease.
“They were together forever,†Bonnie Goldsbury said. “Les and Norita were married for over 50 years. When you lose someone you've been with for three-quarters of your life, it's like losing half of yourself.â€
“He literally has spent the last, best and healthiest years he had left fighting for everyone else, because the fight was all over for him,†said Gayla Benefield, another important victims' advocate who suffers from asbestosis and has lost both of her parents and countless family members to the disease. “It's been over for all of us who were exposed, but Les believed we had to keep up the fight for everybody else.â€
According to Benfield, Skramstad's ability to touch people was his most remarkable quality. Benefield realized the quality long ago, before their lives were consumed by fighting disease and injustice. Benefield and Les were childhood friends, and the Skramstads even named one of their daughters Gayla.
