Bill Fromhold, 68, a former four-term state legislator from Vancouver with deep and lengthy ties to Clark County education and business circles, lost his fight with an aggressive form of leukemia early Thursday.
He had battled several setbacks as he awaited a complicated stem cell transplant, and had been hospitalized repeatedly since April.
He died at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, his wife, Marcia, said.
His two daughters, Kristie and Kelli, also were at his bedside.
Since the Mayo Clinic diagnosed him in February with a rare form of leukemia called blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, Fromhold had shuttled between Olympia and Seattle hospitals for treatment.
His consulting physicians, specialists affiliated with the Seattle Care Alliance — which includes the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital — had never seen that particular illness before.
“The disease was so rare and they knew so little about it, and it was so aggressive,” Marcia said on Thursday. “We had the best care in the world, and we’re so thankful for that.
“It just came back so aggressively. They did everything they could, but it was just too much,” she said.
Marcia has kept friends and colleagues of Bill updated with an online journal. Recent entries grew increasingly dire as Fromhold’s compromised immune system came under repeated attack. He underwent emergency surgery late Sunday to remove his spleen.
Still, the news stunned those who viewed the 6 foot 4 inch former Democratic Party stalwart as a rock.
“I just spoke with him the day before the surgery and he sounded great,” said state Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who considered Fromhold a mentor. “He was a great legislator, a great friend. Southwest Washington has lost a true hero.”
Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, his legislative district colleague during Fromhold’s tenure, also grieved.
“It’s way too soon. I’ve lost a good friend, and I think our whole community has lost,” Moeller said. “I’m still kind of figuring it out. I thought somehow with his personality, he would barrel on through.”
‘Can-do’ knack
Fromhold served as Democratic state representative from Vancouver’s 49th legislative district from 2001 to 2009.
He pursued the House seat left vacant by Rep. Don Carlson, R-Hazel Dell, who advanced to the state Senate upon the retirement of longtime Democratic Sen. Al Bauer.
Fromhold won office with 55 percent of the vote, then earned 61, 62 and 65 percent favor in subsequent re-elections.
Before his election in November 2000, he was president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce for two years and previously, the Educational Service District 112 superintendent for 14 years.
His career included work for Evergreen Public Schools, Seafirst Bank, the Washington state auditor’s office and Weyerhaeuser Co.
“Bill was always a can-do guy. Any situation that arose, he was the guy who was pulling people together to solve it,” said Joan Skelton, a 15-year veteran on the Evergreen school board.
Skelton admired his ability to educate himself on a wide variety of issues — whether education, transportation, business or finance — and to push selflessly for solutions.
“He jumped in wherever there was a need. It’s so hard to imagine him not being here,” she said. “He was just a larger-than-life person.”
Strong people skills
Fromhold’s razor-sharp mind for numbers and budgets, “big-picture” vision and networking savvy made him a perfect fit for public office, said former Evergreen district school chief Rick Melching, whose relationship with Fromhold stretched past 35 years.
“He began as a fiscal wizard at the ESD. He never lost his touch, in that area. It served him well,” said Melching, who now heads up The Community Foundation, a Vancouver nonprofit group.
“He was a natural politician,” Melching added.
Fromhold’s ability to work with Republicans also raised his stature, Melching said. “I think he’s one of the best legislators we’ve had from Southwest Washington, without a doubt. It’s a huge loss.”
Moeller said Fromhold remained part of the 49th District team even after he retired from the Legislature at the end of 2008 and began lobbying on behalf of the Columbia River Crossing and other key local issues.
Lasting impact
Support for Clark County didn’t end with Fromhold’s final term in Olympia.
He and Marcia — also a former Evergreen school administrator who still lobbies for the district — have continued to support local groups, agencies and causes, even after making Olympia their full-time home.
The two married in October 2001. They first met in 1987 when Fromhold was head of ESD 112, striving hard to improve and grow the agency to better serve area schools, she said.
Jim Youde, board member for the Clark County Food Bank, said Fromhold recently helped secure $1.5 million in state funding for a new $4.2 million distribution center to be built in the Minnehaha area.
“It’s going to be a benefit to food-insecure and hungry folks in Clark County for years to come,” said Youde, who had known Fromhold since his ESD days.
“Just a wonderful person, a real giant in Clark County. He always had creative ideas for addressing problems,” Youde said.
Detail-minded
Fromhold became a go-to expert on attempts to untangle the state’s pension liability morass, a largely thankless task. He served on a select pension reform committee, and on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s Washington Learns steering committee that addressed school reforms.
But the role he cherished most was vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, where he had a more direct hand in steering state dollars.
During his last two-year term he was chairman of the capital budget committee, influencing hundreds of millions of dollars spent on state-funded construction projects.
He earned wide praise from both Republicans and Democrats for a fair, bipartisan approach. “This is a model in the way that we put a budget together in the House,” said state Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, at the time.
