Cancer claims Lloyd Meeds, ex-congressman
OLYMPIA – Retired U.S. Rep. Lloyd Meeds, a former gas station operator who later sponsored landmark legislation and hobnobbed with presidents, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 77.
Meeds, a Democrat who worked closely with the state’s legendary senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson, served in the House for seven terms. He represented the 2nd District in northwestern Washington between Everett and the Canadian border, and the Olympic Peninsula.
After his retirement in 1979, he had a long career as a partner with the Seattle-based law firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds. The firm announced his death Thursday.
Meeds died Wednesday night at his home in Church Creek, Md. He was connected with the law firm’s Washington, D.C., branch.
“Lloyd Meeds served the state of Washington with distinction and honor,” said former House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Spokane. “It was a privilege to serve with him in the House of Representatives and his passion and dedication were an inspiration to those who knew him. I was honored to be his friend.”
Foley and Meeds, as well as Brock Adams and Floyd Hicks, were Jackson proteges who were all elected to Congress in 1964.
Meeds was known for his work on conservation, education and implementing some of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs. He also worked on Indian issues.
He sponsored legislation to create Head Start, the Youth Conservation Corps, school nutrition programs and vocational education support. He helped create the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and the North Cascades National Park.
He always enjoyed a connection with Alaska and Native issues. He worked on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline legislation, Alaska wilderness bills and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Alaska declared last Feb. 28 Lloyd Meeds Day.
Meeds was born in Dillon, Mont., on Dec. 11, 1927, and the family moved to Monroe, Wash., northeast of Seattle when he was in high school. After a tour of duty in the Navy, he graduated from Everett Community College and owned and operate a service station in Monroe for four years. He went back to college and graduated second in his class at Gonzaga Law School in 1958. After working as a deputy prosecutor and in a private practice, he was elected in 1962 to be Snohomish County prosecutor – Jackson’s old office – and served until his election to Congress.
Meeds usually won re-election by a comfortable margin, but won by only 542 votes in 1976. In 1974, U.S. District Judge George Boldt had ruled that Indian treaties gave them the opportunity to harvest one-half of the fish in their usual and accustomed fishing grounds. Meeds angered many in his fish-dependent district by saying the Indians had law on their side and that people needed to deal with it and move on.
Some environmentalists and tribes also were unhappy with him, despite his long work on their issues.
Frustrated and not wanting to face another grueling, expensive re-election campaign, he announced in late 1977 that he would step down at the end of his term.
He was succeeded in Congress by his close aide, Al Swift, who served for 16 years. Swift remembered Meeds on Thursday as “one of the most assiduously honest men I ever met.”
Swift said Meeds was treated brutally, but never sold out and never turned bitter. He greatly enjoyed his law career afterward, he said.
“My overriding image of Lloyd was energy,” Swift said. “He just could not sit still. He was always in motion. He’d take the stairs rather than wait for the elevator.”
Swift characterized Meeds as a classic New Deal-Great Society liberal.
“To know Lloyd was to know someone who represented the best of what public service is all about,” said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., dean of the state delegation. “He came to Washington to do what he believed was right for the country, and did it for over 40 years. He truly was one of a kind.”
Karen Glover, managing partner of Preston Gates, called him a beloved and highly respected colleague.
“Through all of his years in Washington, D.C., Lloyd never forgot his Northwest roots,” she said.
Meeds is survived by his wife of more than 35 years, Mary, a daughter, Deborah Kendall, two children from his first marriage, Michael and Michelle, a brother, David, and grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.