Long-time lobbyist Charles T. “Charlie” Stevens is remembered by legislators and fellow lobbyists as a loyal friend, true gentleman and straight shooter.

A memorial service for Mr. Stevens was held April 22. He died April 17 after a battle with cancer. He was 73.

Mr. Stevens began lobbying in 1964 and retired after the 2002 legislative session.

“Arizona politics will never be the same,” said House Speaker Jake Flake. “Charlie Stevens was a dear friend. He will be sorely missed at the Capitol.”

John Wettaw, a Northern Arizona University chemistry professor who served in the Legislature from 1973 to 2000, said he and Mr. Stevens were friends for 31 years.

“I so respected the things he did for the people of Arizona,” said Mr. Wettaw. “He did so many things that were beneficial.”

Mr. Wettaw said he was fortunate to have had lunch earlier this month with Mr. Stevens. “We spent two hours laughing and solving the world’s problems,” said Mr. Wettaw.

John Mangum and Sam Polito, who both began lobbying in the 1970s, remembered that Mr. Stevens took them under his wing.

“I was really on the fringe, lobbying for a school district [the Tucson Unified School District], but he had time to give me advice and provide me with a model of what a good lobbyist should be,” said Mr. Polito. “With Charlie, it didn’t matter who you were.”

Mr. Mangum said, “Charlie helped show me around.”

Sen. Pete Rios, D-23, who has been in the Legislature since 1983, called Mr. Stevens “an old-time, traditional straight shooter.”

“Charlie Stevens would sit down with you and explain why the legislation he was pushing was a good bill, and then he would say ‘Knowing your district, this is the down side.’ He’d give you both sides,” said Mr. Rios.

Senate Minority Leader Jack Brown echoed Mr. Rios’s sentiments.

“Charlie Stevens was one of my best friends,” said Mr. Brown. “I met him in the early ’60s when I came to the Legislature. He was a good straight shooter. A top notch kind of guy.”

Mr. Stevens was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan. Following service in the Korean War, he received a law degree from Case Western Reserve Law School.

He then came to Phoenix and practiced law with Stevens & Leibow, P.C., which later became Stevens & Stevens, P.C., when he was joined by his daughter, Susie.

“He brought a brightness into the world,” said Mr. Polito. “My world dims without Charlie. He’d do things just because it was the right thing to do.”

In a lighter vein, Mr. Mangum called Mr. Stevens “frugal,” and he used Mr. Stevens’s trademark saddle oxfords as an example.

“Charlie had two pair of saddle shoes,” said Mr. Mangum. “One pair was for every day, and the other was for Sunday-go-to-meeting. He would wear them until they were totally disreputable before he’d buy a new pair.” —