My first reaction to the passing of Sen. Dick Sears? I was sad. Honestly. He was a genuinely nice guy who always tried to do what he saw as best for Vermont.

That said… I think the Senate will, on balance, be a better place without him.

See, it’s complicated.

Dick Sears was one of the last remaining Old Lions of the Senate. Like his fellow members of the pride, he was a raging institutionalist who loved the Senate exactly as it was. I see the Senate quite differently: far too self-absorbed and far less functional than it ought to be, too closed to new ideas and too scornful of the Legislature’s junior chamber.

But of all the past and present Old Lions, Sears was the most valuable. He brought a lot to the table. As longtime chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he knew the law as well as anyone. Due in part to his own humble upbringing, he often thought of the law in terms of those caught in its crosshairs, and that’s a rare quality in anyone who held a position of authority as long as he did. On the other hand, he thwarted many a reform measure if he thought it went too far, and was especially loath to enact any new gun bills.

And his voice was curiously silent when it came to the, shall we say, questionable practices of the police in his own backyard.

It’s also complicated for a personal reason: Sears always treated me with courtesy and even respect. He was always willing to talk to me. That’s in spite of the fact that I had written some remarkably unkind things about him over the years.

There’s one more thing I regret about his passing. He loved to go on cruises with his wife Beverly. He and I used to chat about the trips they’d taken and where they’d gone. I always hoped he’d leave office with some years left to take a cruise whenever he felt like it. That door closed last year when Beverly died.

Sears had significant health issues of his own, but he returned to the Senate in January and threw himself into his work. He’d already filed papers to run for what would have been his 16th term in office. I imagine retirement looked a lot less enticing without Beverly.

So I’m sorry to see him go. At the same time, I look forward to a less seniority-laden Senate. And as much as his expertise will be missed, I particularly look forward to a Senate Judiciary Committee without Sears at its head. The current vice chair is Nader Hashim, a former state trooper with a strong, clear, progressive eye toward justice and the law. He will presumably be named acting chair for the time being. And when the Committee on Committees reorganizes things for the new session, he ought to be first in line for Judiciary. That, to me, is an exciting prospect.

Still, let Sears’ praises be heard. He devoted his adult life to public service as a senator and as a founder and longtime director of a Bennington program for troubled youth. He came quite a long way from being born inside a prison and going through three different foster homes before he was finally adopted while still an infant. He may be the ultimate example of getting lemons and making lemonade. God speed, Sen. Sears. You did yourself proud.