YAKIMA, Wash. — Longtime Yakima lawmaker Mary Skinner died at 6:25 this morning, less than a year after her final legislative session and less than a month after her husband's death.

Skinner, who was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in 2006, was 63. She died at home surrounded by family.

The first Latino lawmaker from the Yakima Valley, she leaves a legacy of child-safety policy and a reputation for optimism that colleagues say buoyed her even during the hardest parts of her up-and-down battle with the disease.

"Of all the people I've worked with, Mary always - no matter the circumstances at home or in Olympia - Mary always had class," former state Rep. and Sen. Jim Clements, R-Selah, said.

During her 14 years representing the 14th District in the state House, Skinner, a Republican, gained a reputation as a champion for children.

"Thanks to Mary's passion, Washington's children are safer," U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a written statement.

Skinner's efforts led to the doubling of traffic fines in school zones. And her sponsorship of "Anton's Law," stemming from the 1996 traffic death of a local 4-year-old, set a precedent leading to the passage of a national booster-seat law.

"Mary had such a profound impact on the Yakima community," Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday in a written statement.

Her legislative achievements reflected her personality, said former Sen. Alex Deccio.

"She was very thoughtful," he said. "There was a place for what she did, because very, very few people gave it that kind of thought. That was just her nature."

Skinner's heritage, having been born in California to migrant-worker parents and raised in the Yakima Valley, gave her unique insight into parts of the community that weren't accessible to her colleagues, said Yakima School Board President Vickie Ybarra.

"Mary identified with a wide range of people in our community, especially people who were either disadvantaged or outside the system in some way," said Ybarra, a Democrat who in November lost to Yakima Republican Norm Johnson in the race to succeed Skinner.

As a girl, Skinner filled out forms for her parents, who didn't speak English well, said her sister Marti Brunelle. Though they were separated by only three years, Skinner assumed an almost parental role in some ways, Brunelle said. The family was close, and Skinner's parents, Joe and Jovita Rivera, instilled their work ethic into their three daughters, Brunelle said.

"They loved us very much, and they were very goal-driven," she said. "They encouraged us to be very goal-driven."

Along with Deccio and Clements, Skinner provided the 14th District with uncommon longevity. Deccio was already a fixture in the Senate when Clements and Skinner were elected to the House in 1994. They stayed together, referring to themselves as a team, until Deccio retired at the end of 2006.

Where Clements could be thought of as rough and Deccio as slick, Skinner was universally liked in Olympia. It was a winning combination, Clements said.

"She put the fine finish on Alex and me," he said.

Their combined influence provided results in the capital budget, including funding for the Capitol Theatre renovation, the creation of the Millennium Plaza and Yakima's continued downtown revitalization.

And it won them votes back home. Skinner first won election in 1994 with 62 percent of the vote. She was re-elected in 1996 with 59 percent - a huge margin by most standards, but closer to defeat than she would come ever again. After her cancer diagnosis in 2006, she won another term with 66 percent of the vote.

The 2008 legislative session, however, proved to be Skinner's last. Though she missed only a handful of days during the session, they were vote-heavy days. She ended up missing more than 270 votes, or about 40 percent of those taken on the House floor.

Steadfast even then, she pledged to run again at the end of 2008 and was trying to find a way to stay in Olympia for chemotherapy treatments rather than flying home. She repeated her re-election plans in an April luncheon speech, during which her doctor told the crowd Skinner was healthy enough to serve.

A month later she surprised the local political scene with her retirement announcement. In a written statement, she insisted her health was not a deciding factor and that she wanted to spend more time with her husband, Hal.

Hal, a retired doctor and former Army colonel, died Jan. 17. He was 88. The two were inseparable during their 40 years of marriage, friends said.

"You can't hardly say anything about Mary without talking about Hal," Deccio said.

They were among Yakima's most outstanding couples, he said.

"I really can't think of anybody I admired more than the two of them," Deccio said.