Republicans and Democrats are mourning the death of Republican House leader Mike Whalley.
The eight term Representative had been diagnosed with a brain tumor last fall.
He died from complications due to a recent fall.
The governor has ordered all flags on state buildings to fly at half staff Wednesday and Thursday.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein has this remembrance.
Mike Whalley speaks on The Exchange, January 2, 2007. (Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
Over the past nine years one thing has been constant at the statehouse; Mike Whalley has had held some kind of leadership position.
"Vice Chair of the committee, the whip of the Republican caucus, Deputy Speaker, the minority leader..."
That’s House Speaker Terie Norelli.
At her freshman orientation nearly ten years ago she remembers the tall, well-dressed and dignified Whalley coming over to make an observation.
"He and I were different in that he noticed right off the bat that I smile and laugh a lot, and admitted, in fact, he did not."
Whalley was famous for not smiling. His friends even held contests to see who could get the Alton Bay Representative to smile first.
When Whalley walked the halls, or went up to the podium, people stopped to notice.
A successful businessman selling watercrafts and snowmobiles, he was widely viewed as a legislator that got things done.
Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, who served in the legislature with Whalley, says neither of them were the wonky type.
"We were dealmakers, we would sit often and try to say, ok if you do this, I'll do that..."
His ability to make things happened was noticed.
In the late 90’s Whalley began his ascent up the House Republican ladder.
Then Speaker Donna Sytek promoted him to Majority Whip.
His job was to ‘persuade’ Republicans to vote how the leadership wanted the members to vote.
Representative David Hess says when a lawmaker was tempted to vote against leadership, Whalley would walk the member back to a room just off the House floor.
"And that came to be known as 'Whalley's Woodshed,' because when Mike needed to be particularly persuasive, he would frequently take Republicans into that stairwell and explain to them why that particular member should reconsider his or her position on the legislation."
By all accounts Whalley was quite successful.
Some, like Republican Representative Lee Quandt, might say too successful.
"I don't know if we'd call him enemies, because in politics you try not to make enemies, but there were a number of people that didn't care for Mike. He didn't budge a lot - he was very tough, and it was, here's how the Republicans are going to do it, and you're going to fall in line."
Statehouse friends dismiss the notion that there were hard feelings.
They argue Whalley had a job to do, sometimes as arm twister, and he did what he had to do.
But those who knew him best describe him as warm and compassionate.
While that might not have come out in his public demeanor, Representative Fran Wendelboe says it was obvious by watching him with his wife Purr.
"A lot of us, we have our political life and we have our home life, and the two don't mix. But with Mike and Purr, they were in both of those worlds together. They were partners, they were soulmates."
For those who didn’t get a chance to see him interact with his wife, the whole House saw the compassionate Whalley when he took the podium earlier this year.
He wanted to thank his colleagues for their support during his battle with a brain tumor.
"But I have to thank you for the last three months. It's been very difficult, and without the prayers, without the kind words, without your thoughts, I don't think I could barely get through it.
"I started with a small box of cards. I've had to grow to a bushel basket. I don't think I'm going to throw those cards away."
In his brief statement to the House, everyone agreed, the man speaking made his love for the institution clear.
And what will be remembered from that moment is the gratitude he felt to those around him.
For NHPR News, I’m Dan Gorenstein.
