“I am just completely and utterly heartbroken with the passing of a true Virginia Gentlemen, Statesman and dear, dear friend, Senator Ben Chafin,” State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Moneta, wrote in a social media post after learning about Chafin’s death.
Sen. Ben Chafin, R-Russell County, died after contracting the coronavirus, according to online reports. He was 60.
“I loved to make him laugh, just so I could hear it,” Stanley wrote.
“(I) loved to listen to his passionate arguments on the floor so that I could wish that I would be someday just as good as he was in making them, and I loved being his friend, just so that I could say I was to anyone who would listen. What a good soul he is, I am simply lost,” Stanley wrote.
Ninth District U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, also was among those to express grief at Chafin’s death.
“Senator Ben Chafin was a great legislator as well as a friend. As a native of Southwest Virginia, he cared deeply for its people and was a tremendous advocate for them in the state Senate. I will miss this good and dedicated public servant,” Griffith said.
In a statement issued Jan. 1, Gov. Ralph Northam wrote that “Southwest Virginia has lost a strong advocate—and we have all lost a good man.” with Chafin’s death.
“I knew Ben as a lawmaker, an attorney, a banker, and a farmer raising beef cattle in Moccasin Valley, working the land just as generations of his family had done before him. He loved the outdoors, and he loved serving people even more. He pushed hard to bring jobs and investment to his district, and I will always be grateful for his courageous vote to expand health care for people who need it,” Northam said in the release.
Northam also ordered the Virginia state flag to be lowered immediately in his honor and remain at half-staff until sunset on the day of Chafin’s interment.
“This is sad news to begin a new year with the loss of a kind and gracious man. May we all recommit to taking extra steps to care for one another,” he wrote.
Chafin was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2013, the Associated Press reported. He then moved to the state Senate in 2014, according to the AP.
