A retired maintenance engineer from Goring died from being exposed to asbestos through his work, an inquest heard.
Leslie Hobbs, 73, died just one month after being told he had the lung cancer mesothelioma.
Throughout his working life, Mr Hobbs, of Goring Road, maintained asbestos-clad boilers throughout West Sussex.
He worked for nine years as a foreman at the former New England College at Tortington, near Arundel.
At the inquest yesterday, Mr Hobbs' widow Heather said when he was diagnosed, they knew at once his work was the cause.
She said he was diagnosed in February this year and died on March 6 at St Barnabas Hospice in Durrington.
Recording a verdict of the industrial disease of mesothelioma, West Sussex coroner Roger Stone said the cancer sometimes developed decades after people came into contact with the deadly material.
He said: "It is a disease of the lungs caused by his working practices. Years ago people did not realise this would be the effect. Today they take steps where asbestos is found or used."
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