Another shock from the Legislature, and not the good kind. Rick Hube, a Republican from Londonderry, died Monday in Florida, according to House Minority Leader Patti Komline, R-Dorset.

Hube was 62.

He died a day after Rep. Ira Trombley, D-Grand Isle. Both deaths were sudden.

Hube was a bear of a guy, with a gruff outer image that really wasn't so gruff at all. "He was everyone's big brother," Komline said.

He was well-versed in tax issues and a defender of the property tax, serving most recently on the Ways & Means Committee.

Komline said Hube was in Florida visiting his sister for the holidays, when he felt pain in his leg while out for a walk. He called his sister, who called an ambulance but Hube died of an aortic aneurysm, Komline said.

A service is expected to be held on Hube's birthday, Jan. 31, she said.

******Update*******
Hube's friend Oliver Olsen reports that Hube's Web site will be updated with details about a memorial service. You can see it at www.rickhube.com.

An interesting thing about the electronic world - a web site lives on after a person. Similarly, Ira Trombley's wife, Lucy, posted on his Facebook page the news of his death early the morning after he passed. His Facebook page now features a long string of tributes to him.

*******Another update******
Jim Barnett, former Vermont Republican Party chairman who worked for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, sends McCain's thoughts on Hube, who had served as
vice chairman of the McCain campaign in Vermont.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Rick Hube," said Sen. John McCain. "Rick was an important part of my team in Vermont, and he will be remembered as someone who always put the people of Vermont first. His family are in my thoughts a prayers during this difficult time."



- Terri Hallenbeck