Former Louisiana governor Mike Foster dies at 90

By Reveille Staff Report

October 5, 2020

FILE – In this March 19, 2000, file photo, Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster addresses a joint session of the Legislature at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La. Foster, a folksy millionaire businessman who pushed major changes in education policy and lawsuit rules through an increasingly conservative state Legislature in the 1990s, died Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. He was 90. Marsanne Goolsby, who was Foster’s press secretary when he was governor, said that Foster died at his home in Franklin. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)

Former Louisiana Governor Mike Foster died Sunday at age 90 after a week in hospice.
LSU Interim President Thomas Galligan released a statement addressing the former governor’s death.
“The LSU Community is saddened at the passing of Gov. Mike Foster, whose strong support of our university allowed LSU to make many crucial improvements to our campus, and whose development of the TOPS program has helped millions of Louisiana students get a college education,” Galligan said. “His legacy will not be forgotten, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Alice, and the rest of his family.
Gov. John Bel Edwards also released a statement.
“Donna and I are praying for Gov. Foster’s family, and especially his wife Alice, during this difficult time and hope the people of our state will join their prayers to ours,” Edwards said in the statement. “I have ordered that flags in the state be flown at half-staff in honor of his memory.”