The University of Maine student who died Wednesday morning after exposure to a gas at a Baileyville mill is remembered by friends for his intelligence, kindness and discipline.
Kasie Malcolm and two other workers were hospitalized Tuesday evening after exposure to a gas at Woodland Pulp mill. University officials said in a letter emailed to the UMaine community Wednesday evening that Malcolm, a junior studying chemical engineering, died Wednesday morning following “an off-campus workplace accident.”
As of Wednesday, one of those other workers had been released from the hospital but the other had not been, according to a mill spokesman. It was not known Thursday if the third worker was still hospitalized.
Malcolm was a beloved member of multiple communities on UMaine’s campus. He was close to his 25-person chemical engineering cohort, the fitness lovers that called themselves “gym rats” and the students that work and play at the university’s climbing center.
He was a climbing instructor at Maine Bound Adventure Center, an on-campus recreation facility, his co-worker Aura Morin said.
A picture of Malcolm was hung Thursday morning next to the center’s climbing walls, inviting students to share memories of their friend and climbing partner. Multiple notes described Malcolm’s kindness, diligence and love for poker. One fixed on the shock of his passing.
Other memorializers wrote of their admiration of Malcolm’s passion, noting his love for hiking, climbing, skiing, fishing and working out. Malcolm had recently added fly fishing to his ever-growing list of pastimes, his classmate Holden Hall said.
“Kasie was a valued staff and community member at Maine Bound, and his enthusiasm, vibrance and joy will stay with us forever,” a memorial for Kasie reads, signed by “MB Fam.”
Hall described his honors classmate as a generous, dedicated student with impressive problem-solving skills and “through the roof” kindness. Hall and Malcolm shared identical class schedules last semester.
Despite a grueling school schedule, Malcolm woke up at 5 a.m. every morning for gym workouts before class, Hall said.
“Kasie was one of the smartest people in our class,” Hall said. “He’s one of those kids that didn’t speak up a whole lot, but you see him sitting there on his iPad, just solving the problem sets quietly.”
Malcolm started interning at Woodland Pulp mill last summer, as part of the chemical engineering department’s co-op program, Hall said. After spending fall semester on campus for in-person classes, Malcolm returned to Baileyville early January to complete his second 16-week rotation, Hall said.
Hall fondly remembered Malcolm’s exceptionally small handwriting, a quality for which his group of close-knit chemical engineering classmates would tease him. His tiny lettering fit neatly with the undersized pocketbook he used for class notes, Hall said.
“He was always there for you,” Hall said. “Everyone was close with him.”