Longtime legislator Sen. Jake Flake dies - by Betty Reid and Mary Jo Pitzl - The Arizona Republic

Jun. 9, 2008 12:00 AM

Arizona lawmakers and family mourned the death of state Sen. Jake Flake, who died Sunday after suffering a massive heart attack at his home near Snowflake. He was 72.

Flake, R-District 5, had been a state legislator since 1997 and was unopposed for re-election in the fall. He was the uncle of U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

The seat will be filled by an appointment made by the Navajo County Board of Supervisors.

Mary Louise, Flake's wife, said her husband died Sunday morning after a fall; when he tried to get up, he had a heart attack.

She said that her husband's legacy was his large family and that he had been a "very good husband."

The couple, who reared 13 children, were approaching their 49th anniversary this month.

Mary Louise Flake said her husband, a cattle rancher, had been recovering from a fall off a horse two weeks ago.

Gov. Janet Napolitano remembered Flake's leadership. "Jake Flake was a leader of great strength and wisdom, who worked with passion on behalf of the people of Arizona," Napolitano said. "Our hearts and prayers are with his family as they mourn his loss."

Flake served on the state Senate Appropriations and Government committees. He chaired the Natural Resources and Rural Affairs and the Appropriations subcommittee on Education and Natural Resources.

He had served in the Senate since January 2005 and in early May filed his nomination papers seeking a third term.

Flake previously served in the Arizona House, beginning in 1997. He was speaker of the House in 2003-04.

Flake was one of the Legislature's last cowboys, running cattle on his family's F Bar Cattle Co. his entire life.

He was the Legislature's most prominent voice on agricultural issues and was known for his homespun quips and references to ranch life.

Rep. Bill Konopnicki, a Safford Republican also elected from District 5, said Flake's death was a surprise, even though his injuries from the horse incident were worrisome. Flake had suffered internal bleeding from the broken ribs and was in pain, but still maintained he would be back at work at the Legislature before the session ended, likely at the end of this month.

"He'll be missed," said Konopnicki, who added that
Flake was in many ways bigger than life itself.

"He's been a stalwart for agriculture for so many
years," he said. "It's going to be hard to fill his shoes."

Flake's spokesman during his tenure as House speaker recalled Flake as a genial lawmaker who would not alienate opponents.

"To me, he was just one of a kind," said Jake Logan, who now is a lobbyist. "Whether it was his enemy or his friend, he'd put his arm around you. He was great at building coalitions."

Flake was regarded as a reliable conservative vote but a reasonable lawmaker. He helped champion the legislation that allowed the Maricopa Integrated Health System to be created.
Logan said Flake's legislative accomplishments included shepherding through a university infrastructure bill during his time as speaker. He was also a champion of rural issues, from water to livestock.

Logan recalled a visit that he and about 10 former staffers made to Flake's ranch outside Snowflake last year. They spent a day on the range, learning from their former boss some of the intricacies of ranch life, such as testing whether a cow is pregnant.

"It wasn't pretty, I assure you," he said with a laugh, although to Flake it was second nature.
Logan said he takes comfort from the fact that Flake was doing what he loved up until the end.
"To me, it's a great story that he was on a horse two weeks ago," Logan said.

Much of Flake's biography is posted on the Arizona legislative Web site.

Franklin "Jake" Flake was a native Arizonan, who was born and reared in Snowflake, a town founded by his great-grandfather.

The fourth of eight children, Jake learned the value of teamwork early in life. His childhood chores on the family ranch taught him that true success comes through hard work and self-sufficiency.

After graduating from Arizona State University in 1960, Jake continued working on his father's ranch in Snowflake. They eventually bought the ranch with three of Flake's brothers.
Together, they expanded it into a large cattle operation in the southwestern United States, owning or leasing ranches and marketing bulls and heifers throughout the Southwest and Mexico.

Flake felt a duty to give back to his community. Besides working at the Legislature for a dozen years, Flake served as a board member and president of two school boards, an irrigation district, a hospital operating board, and a farm credit council's board of directors.

He also spent 18 years on the Grand Canyon Council of the Boy Scouts of America, served on the Arizona Rural Health Association Board, the Blue Ridge Natural Resources Working Group, the Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation and the Snowflake Heritage Council.

Flake, despite the public service and professional accomplishment, knew that Arizona's future lies in the strength of its families, not the size of its government, according to the legislative Web site.

The cowboy lawmaker considered his family to be his proudest achievement.
Jake Flake is survived by his wife, Mary Louise; 12 of his 13 children; more than 45 grandchildren; and a newborn great-grandchild.

The Funeral will be held in Snowflake, AZ on Friday June 13, 2008 @ 11:00AM.

Barrett Marson, a spokesman for House Republicans, said precinct committeemen from Navajo County will meet in the next few days and recommend three people to fill Flake's seat.
Republic reporter Matthew Benson and the Associated Press contributed to this article.