BELFAST – Robert Gould, a longtime pharmacist and former state senator, died Thursday after a brief illness. He was 65.

Gould had wide-ranging political career that spanned three decades. He served terms on the Belfast City Council, in the Maine Senate and was currently a Waldo County commissioner.

He served six years on the council and as state senator for Waldo County for six years.

He had been in poor health the last year and announced this winter that he would not stand for re-election as a commissioner this fall.

“He was a compassionate, caring and loyal guy,” his good friend of four decades, Belfast attorney Roger Blake, said Friday.

Waldo County Commissioner John Hyk, who ran an unsuccessful state Senate campaign against Gould, expressed compassion for his old opponent and his family. Hyk said that some county offices would be closed Tuesday afternoon for Gould’s funeral. Hyk said arrangements were being made to ensure that county employees who want to attend the service will be able to.

“Bob had a life in public service, Bob believed in public service,” Hyk said Friday. “Bob was a dedicated public servant and he really had the county’s best interest at heart.”

Blake said he and Gould hunted and fished together for years, and that while “he didn’t have a great background in outdoor sports, he was very eager to catch a great fish. And he responded with joy many times higher than you and I would when he did catch one.”

Blake said that Gould took to politics as he did any other endeavor. “He jumped into everything with a great deal of enthusiasm,” said Blake.

He said Gould was a fervent Republican who enjoyed the give and take of politics.

“I never heard Bob say anything bad about anyone, unless he was of the other political persuasion,” Blake said. “I can recall many spirited arguments about politics with those of the other party.”

Gould’s seat on the commission will be filled through an appointment by Gov. Angus King.