May 23, 2015 4:19 PM

Another long time Capitol hand, Bob Strauser passed last Thursday

Began as a Lege Council drafting attorney, helped form Texas Association of Taxpayers then moved on to lobby with Baker Botts

To have passings of two old Capitol friends in one week, especially during the home stretch of legislative process to which they were devoted forces one to stop for a moment and take a deep breath.

Strauser lost his battle with esophageal cancer.

Bob Strauser’s funeral will be at 10AM on Tuesday at St. Mark’s Episcopal on Barton Hills Drive. His wife Teri wrote us, “Interment will be private, but we will have a reception at our house at noon. Given that Tuesday is the last day for second reading of Senate bills in the House (and Bob would have been first in line to grouse about the inconvenience of a funeral at this time), we will be having a reception after session.”

Folks like Strauser and Doc Arnold didn’t just make a living in the legislative process. Like most of us who spend any time at it, they became absorbed with this often oblique process and the depth and intensity of the community it spawns. They always told it straight to this one time newbie and shed light on a process that never really stops.

You can find Strauser’s obituary here. It will also appear in tomorrow’s paper.

By Harvey Kronberg