• Arizona Sen. Chester Crandell was found dead Monday afternoon after he didn%27t return from a horseback ride near Heber-Overgaard.
• Crandell was 68.
• Crandell had served in the Arizona Legislature since 2011.

Arizona Sen. Chester Crandell was found dead Monday afternoon after he didn't return from a horseback ride near Heber-Overgaard. He was 68.

Crandell, a fifth-generation rural Arizonan and rancher, had served in the Legislature since 2011.

According to the Navajo County Sheriff's Office, Crandell had left for a one-hour ride about 10 a.m. on what investigators were told was a new colt. When he did not return, family members searched the area where he was riding and at about 2 p.m. found him dead. The horse was found in the area.

"Medical examiners and detectives are now trying to determine the cause and manner of death, and no other details are available at this time," Navajo County Sheriff KC Clark said in a news release. "Chester was a good man and a strong voice for rural Arizona."

Crandell was an experienced horseman. He was born in Holbrook and lived in Heber.

Crandell was a former superintendent of the Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology and a former member of the Heber/Overgarard School District Governing Board. He and his wife, Alice, had nine children.

He was a graduate of Snowflake Union High School, had a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

In the Senate, he was chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee and vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He was passionate about education, state sovereignty and limited government.

Crandell was well liked at the Legislature, always quick with a smile and a joke.

Senate President Andy Biggs had just heard the news Monday evening and was trying to notify lawmakers.

"He was a very good friend of mine," Biggs said, struggling to get the words out. "He was somebody I trusted very much."

Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, also a rancher, said he had known Crandell since their days together at the University of Arizona.

"It's a tragedy. He was home just enjoying the rains," Pierce said. "Chester was always smiling and talking about the weather and good cattle with me. He was a good friend."

Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney described Crandell as a model of hard work, decency and fairness.

"His office, his phone and the gate to his ranch have always been open to friends and strangers alike, and I am so glad that I count him as one of my friends," Tenney said. "I know that his family will be surrounded by the community in a loving, tender and appropriate manner, but there is no doubt that this tragic event leaves a great hole in our community."

Gov. Jan Brewer ordered the flags be lowered to half-staff from sunrise Tuesday until sunset Monday in honor of Crandell.

"A fifth-generation native of Arizona, avid rancher, legislator and ? above all ? a gentleman with a tangible love for Arizona and those he served, Chester will be greatly missed," Brewer said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers ? along with those of the entire state ? are with Chester's dear wife, Alice, and their family during this difficult time."

As of Monday night, details about services or other arrangements had not yet been made.