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Tues: Goodbye, Bluegill Bob
posted at 2009-08-18 23:39 | Last modified 2009-08-19 08:26
Former state Rep Bob Hensley died this morning from complications of the leukemia he’s been fighting for the past several years. It’s one of the only fights he ever lost.
Hensley, a Democrat, served Wake County for 12 years, from 1990-2002. He was a showman, a firebrand, a passionate progressive who loved a good fight. He reveled in being labeled an obstructionist for banding together with seven other Reps, also known as the “Gang of Eight” (second edition) to block the state budget over a sales tax increase they felt was regressive. The photo above is of a card that still hangs in my office today.
Hensley stepped down soon after that to spend more time with his kids, saying he hoped to return to public service once they were on their way. Friends say he had aspirations to a district court bench, or maybe the ABC board. But it wasn’t to be. After several years of give and take, the cancer finally won. He was just 62, and today was his thirtieth wedding anniversary.
Peg O’Connell and her husband, the late Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, were longtime friends of the Hensleys. They lived down the street from each other, and she says Hensley and Long had a long, lively, happily contentious friendship.
When Bob first got sick, my husband Jim called up and said, “Bob, do you want me to donate some bone marrow?” And Bob goes, “I wouldn’t have your ugly blood in my system.” And so then when we thought Bob was very sick, I took a bunch of food over there. Well, it turns out Bob wasn’t sick at all. And so Jim calls him and goes, “I WANT MY FOOD BACK.” The two of them were forever poking at each other.
At the legislature, Hensley was notorious for a) keeping an electric guitar in his office, b) having a car so loud the entire press corps knew when he’d left the building, and c) his blisteringly funny but deadly cross examination on the floor. Wake Dem Deborah Ross remembers that from her days as a lobbyist.
He would stand up on the floor, and he would pull his pants up – and he had, you know, quite a girth, so that was always an entertaining thing – but you knew he was getting ready for it when he did that.
Ross says Hensley was an old school populist.
He was a real man of the people. And he always liked a good fight, and he was always colorful in how he presented his case. He liked - you know, he liked the show… The thing that's kind of different about him than maybe some of our folks today is, people today have the fight and they take it personally, and there's a viciousness to it. And Bob just enjoyed the fight and he had a good time doing it.
Cary Dem Jennifer Weiss served with Hensley in his last term.
I was really saddened to hear about Bob’s death. He was quite a character. I enjoyed serving with him and learned a lot from him. He was very progressive, he was funny, and he had a passion and intensity about him. We will really miss him.
Governor Bev Perdue sent her condolences tonight, as well:
Bob Hensley was a public servant who had the best interests of North Carolina at heart and was never afraid to speak up for what he believed. His passion, determination and sense of humor left a lasting mark on his constituents and on North Carolina. He will be missed.
More remembrances from the Fay-O, the N&O, and an archival moment from the Indy (third item). As of tonight, funeral arrangements are still pending. Please keep his family in your thoughts.
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