WASHINGTON -- Bill Gwatney was a quick-witted, honest and sometimes brash legislator who earned a reputation as a fearsome adversary on the floor of the state Senate, Arkansas Democrats recalled Thursday.

The loss of his leadership at the Arkansas Democratic Party has left an incalculable void, friends say, as his last days in Little Rock were spent generating Democratic enthusiasm for the fall elections and presidential candidate Barack Obama in an historic race he didn't live to see.

Gwatney, 48, died Wednesday afternoon after an assailant forced his way into his office at the state Democratic Party headquarters in Little Rock and opened fire on him for still unknown reasons. The suspect, Timothy Dale Johnson of Searcy, Ark., was shot and killed by police officers after a 30-mile chase. Court documents released Thursday showed that investigators found a Post-It note with Gwatney's name on it in Johnson's home.

Friends said they could not make sense of the shooting, but the loss of Gwatney will be strongly felt.

"You were proud to be a Democrat in this state under his leadership," state Sen. Percy Malone, a friend and colleague of Gwatney for nearly two decades, told FOXNews.com. "Arkansas is going to miss his leadership -- certainly Democrats will. He's a force we're not going to have moving forward."

Funeral services are set for Monday at the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, and state flags will fly at half-staff throughout the day. Friends said Republicans and Democrats alike were "pulling together" ahead of his burial to put politics aside and remember the man.

"Certainly politics will be suspended for awhile. I hope there won't be any posturing. There is a place to be human and a place to be partisan. It's time to be human right now," said Republican state Sen. David Bisbee.

Arkansas is a small state, where "we know each other," Bisbee said. The presidential horse race and other state elections are the last thing on people's minds as they struggle to get through the shock of Gwatney's murder.

But Gwatney, who was described by friends as a rich kid who grew into a dedicated civic servant, was a savvy politician in his own right. As a state senator for 10 years, he left the Arkansas Legislature in 2002 after term limits prevented him running again. During his service, he earned a reputation for cutting through the posturing to get a bill passed or a point across.

"He was a very honest man, and if we were on the opposite side of an issue, you knew it from the start. He didn't try to mask anything. I'm like that too, and I think he recognized that in me," said Democratic state Sen. Paul Miller, who served with Gwatney from 2000 to 2002.

Gwatney was also an early supporter of Hillary Clinton -- once first lady of Arkansas and Gwatney's initial choice for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. After Clinton bowed out, in June, Gwatney rolled up his sleeves to shore up votes for Obama, say friends. He was also one of 12 super-delegates to the Democratic National Convention. No alternate has been named yet to replace him.

"He was a loyal party leader in a job that was really difficult," said state Sen. Jerry Taylor, a Democrat, who noted that Obama remains a tough sell in a state full of conservative Democrats who have largely remained loyal to the Clintons since they left Little Rock for the White House in 1992.

Colleagues credit him with spearheading reforms on gift reporting by legislators.

"(He) was tenacious in his endeavors," continued Miller. "He was also extremely solid and wasn't one of those people who would tell you they were supporting something one day and change their mind the next. Whether win, lose or draw, it didn’t matter to him."

Asked about his personality, Bisbee said Gwatney was personality.

"He was really smart, a little arrogant -- people might have thought that. But he was very smart and very confident. I can assure you he was a hell of an adversary. He was probably (former) Governor. (Mike) Huckabee's number one antagonist."

Huckabee, who served as Republican governor from 1996 to 2007, called Gwatney's murder a "senseless act of depraved violence that touches all of us."

"He was a very effective leader for his party and an event like this certainly makes all politics seem small and insignificant," Huckabee said Wednesday.

Gwatney had been born to privilege -– in 1957, his father opened the family car dealership, which is still running today alongside two others that Gwatney ran. His family also owned the First National Bank of Jacksonville, of which Gwatney had served as executive vice president.

But though he seemed to have a gift for making a sale, his "heart was in the right place," and he enjoyed using his role as senator to push laws to help Arkansans, his colleagues said.

"He came from an upper-income family, but his heart and soul was with the common, everyday people, and what was good for the citizen," said Malone. "He had a phenomenal moral compass, to know what was right and wrong, he didn't need a poll to make a stand on an issue, even those that were sometimes controversial."

Gov. Mike Beebe, one of Gwatney's closest friends, tapped Gwatney to head the Democratic Party after serving as his finance chairman. Since then, Gwatney has been credited with energizing the party.

He offered an impromptu eulogy Thursday as he shared with reporters his memories of Gwatney, who he described as feisty and at times brash.

"He wasn't bashful, unlike some people who sometimes measure their words," an emotional Beebe told reporters as first lady Ginger Beebe stood by his side at the state Capitol. "He was pretty blunt, but always had something good to say, even if it was something someone didn't like on the other side."

Democratic state Sen. Jim Hill, who served with Gwatney for six years, said Gwatney's feistiness will be missed.

"You could already see the party taking on a new aura about it. He was bringing new life to it," Hill said of Gwatney's navigation at the party helm.

As for where Democrats go for leadership in the state, that has been left to be decided.

"It's going to be a tough couple of weeks and I think the convention is going to be difficult," said state Sen. Shane Broadway. "I think he would want us to go on, because it is a big election year. It might also be a rallying call: 'do it for Bill.'