Snyder orders flags lowered to honor former Sen. Harry Gast

LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder has ordered that flags in the state Capitol complex be lowered in honor of former state Sen. Harry Gast.

Gast died Thursday at age 94.

Snyder said Friday that U.S. and Michigan flags will be lowered to half-staff on Monday.

Gast, a Republican from St. Joseph, served 32 years in the Legislature before leaving in 2002. He was Senate Appropriations Committee chairman for 18 years.

Snyder says Gast “reminds us all of the value of public service” and embodied “citizenship and problem-solving.”