By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Former Arizona politician Carl Kunasek, who was a co-author of the state’s Medicaid program and played a key role in the 1988 impeachment trial of Gov. Evan Mecham, will be laid to rest on Saturday.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday ordered flags to half-staff on Saturday in honor of Kunasek’s burial service.
Kunasek died July 20. He was 94.
He spent more than two decades in public service — a career that would take him from Arizona lawmaker to federal mediator in Washington, D.C., and a state regulator for Arizona utilities.
Kunasek served 16 years in the Arizona Legislature, becoming a pivotal figure in Arizona state politics, during which he helped author the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS. He also was credited with helping start a housing program for developmentally disabled individuals.
A pharmacy owner in Mesa, he first decided to run for office in 1972. He won election as a Republican and represented Mesa for about a decade in the Arizona House.
He later served six years in the Arizona Senate from 1983 to 1989, with the final two years of his tenure as Senate President.
As Senate president, he presided over the impeachment proceedings of GOP Gov. Evan Mecham, who would be the first sitting governor in Arizona’s history to be impeached in 1988. Mecham was ultimately convicted and removed from office.
In a later interview with the Arizona State Library, Kunasek recalled that time in the legislature as “very tumultuous” for him.
“I would have liked to have avoided it in some way, but there was no way I could avoid it,” he said.
Kunasek lost reelection to his Senate seat, challenged by Mecham loyalists who wrongly believed he could have halted the proceedings.
After he lost reelection, Kunasek was tapped by George H. W. Bush to be the sole commissioner of the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation, assisting tribal households affected by the century-old land dispute. He was confirmed by the Senate in 1990 and served in the role until 1994.
He returned to Arizona and was elected to the Arizona Corporation Commission, serving as a commissioner from 1995 to 2001.
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Kunasek was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and got his degree in pharmacy from Creighton University, according to his obituary. After college, he also served in the U.S. Air Force.
He was married to Kathryn Frances “Fran” Ryan for 61 years before she passed in 2020. They had met on a blind date at a New Year’s Eve party in 1957, and were married about a year later. They moved to Mesa, Arizona, from Nebraska in 1961.
Kunasek is survived by their four children together, including former GOP gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson and former Maricopa County Supervisor Andy Kunasek.
In a statement Tuesday, Hobbs remembered Kunasek as “a dedicated public servant who cared deeply about his community and whose work improved the lives of millions of Arizonans.”
“My condolences go out to his family. He will continue to inspire public service for years to come,” she added.
Arizona Senate Republicans lauded Kunasek as “a champion of responsible governance, flood plain management, and support for Arizonans with developmental disabilities.”
“He left a lasting mark on our state through principled leadership,” they wrote in a social media post.
Funeral services will be held for Kunasek on Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Phoenix, according to his obituary.
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