BLACKFOOT — A 65-year-old Blackfoot city councilman died on Friday while awaiting a lung transplant at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

John “Butch” Hulse had been serving on the council since January.

“It’s a real loss to our community,” said City Councilman Rich Woodfin, who has known Hulse for years. “It will be impossible to replace him.”

In an interview with the Idaho State Journal last year, Hulse described himself as the “rah, rah guy for Blackfoot,” and those who knew him agree with the sentiment.

“Blackfoot was in his heart,” said Shirley Brumfield, board president of the Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce.

She served with Hulse at the Chamber and the Idaho Potato Museum in years past, and she said he did everything he could to help the community.

Hulse is credited with starting the Music in the Park event held each summer, as well as the Saturday Market and annual Christmas Tree Bonfire. And Hulse, who also served on the Blackfoot Urban Renewal Agency, was instrumental in getting the popular facilities at Jensen’s Grove up and going, Woodfin said.

“That’s one of the best (things we have) in Blackfoot,” he said.

Hulse also owned a barber shop in town, and worked with Bingham Memorial Hospital and Bingham County Economic Development.

“He was a very loyal Blackfoot person,” Brumfield said. “He even helped the downtown businesses with the light parade at Christmas time.”

Hulse was elected to the Blackfoot City Council in a runoff election last December — the fulfillment of a longtime dream. He ran for city offices on two other occasions, but lost.

“This has been a long time coming,” he told the Idaho State Journal shortly after his election in December, adding that he was looking forward to working with the council and trying to attract more businesses to the area.

Woodfin said that Hulse was easy to work with on the council and was always willing to listen, even when his viewpoints differed.

“He was a real great guy to work with. He never got so dogmatic that he wouldn’t listen to the other side,” Woodfin said.

Although he was only able to serve on the council for nine months, Woodfin said Hulse made a difference in Blackfoot long before he was elected to office.

“It is truly a great loss to the community,” he said.

Brumfield agrees.

“He will be sorely missed,” she said.

Funeral services for Hulse will take place at Hawker Funeral Home in Blackfoot, at 11 a.m. on Friday; his family will meet with friends from 6- to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the same location, and for one-hour prior to the funeral services.

Hulse is the third Blackfoot city councilman to die in the past two years. Councilman Chris Gardner was killed in an ATV accident in July 2010, and Councilman Farrell Cammack died in May following a battle with cancer.