Topeka ? Veteran Rep. Ted Powers, a retired music teacher known for injecting levity into debates with humorous comments and snatches of song, has died from complications following a massive stroke.

The Mulvane Republican was 73. He died Tuesday night at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita, surrounded by family members, the House speaker’s office said. He’d suffered a stroke the night before.

“Ted was fun,” Dane Massey, pastor of the Mulvane Christian Church, where Powers was a member, said Wednesday. “He asked the tough questions and was a thinker, but he was fun to be around. He had good sense of humor. You always knew what he thought, and yet he had a humorous way of saying it.”

A funeral was scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the church, according to the House speaker’s office. Flags at state buildings, including the Capitol, were lowered and were to remain at half-staff until then.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius offered her condolences to Powers’ wife, Betty Mae, and his family and friends.

“Representative Powers was a good man who worked hard for his district,” Sebelius said in a statement. “His service was not limited to the Legislature, however, as he served many years as a music teacher, touching many young Kansans’ lives.”

Powers already had filed for re-election to seek a ninth term in the House, where he represented a district that covered part of southern Sedgwick County and the northeast corner of Sumner County.

He had served in the Legislature since January 1993. For the past two years, he was vice chairman of the Elections and Governmental Organization Committee and served on the Education and Federal and State Affairs committees.