We would like to send our condolences to the Flake family. Here is Flake’s bio from the Senate web site.

Franklin “Jake” Flake is a native Arizonan, who was born and raised in Snowflake, Arizona—named after his great grandfather who founded the town. The fourth of eight children, Jake learned the value of teamwork earlier in life than most. 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’s first class in 1960, Jake continued working on his father’s ranch in Snowflake, eventually purchasing the operation with three of his brothers. Together, they expanded it into one of the most successful cattle operations in the Southwest United States—owning or leasing ranches and marketing bulls and heifers throughout the Southwest and Mexico.

As the great grandson of a pioneer and civic leader, Jake has always felt a duty to give back to his community. In addition to his eight years as a State Representative, Mr. Flake has 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 has spent eighteen 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 4H Foundation, and the Snowflake Heritage Council. He was appointed by Governor Hull to the Growing Smarter Commission and the Governor’s Water Management Commission.

In spite of his considerable professional accomplishments and record of public service, Jake still considers his family to be his proudest achievement. He and his wife of over forty-five years, Mary Louise, have thirteen children and forty-five grandchildren. A strong conservative, Jake knows that Arizona’s future lies in the strength of its families, not the size of its government.