On Monday, Melfort MLA Kevin Phillips died. One Swift Current resident who knew Phillips well said he left behind "a lot of legacies," but what he left behind he didn't do for his own legacy, he did for the people.

Mike Saretsky lives in Swift Current now, but in 2008 he became mayor of Watson - a town 87 kilometres south of Melfort - as a 27 year old.

Saretsky spent five years as Watson's mayor, and it was in that role that he got to know Phillips - who was the Melfort mayor before becoming an MLA.

"I became mayor at the time that Kevin was campaigning to become our MLA, and met him on the campaign trail," Saretsky said. "And he made me an offer I couldn't refuse - second or third time we met, he noticed I was 27 years old, mayor of a small town, and he said, 'looks like you are doing a great job with this town, but as mayor of Melfort for a long time, are you interested in me mentoring you, and kind of helping you go through what you're going through?'"

Saretsky agreed, and started getting texts a couple days a week from Phillips, and when he was stopping in Watson, they'd grab a bite to eat. Through that Saretsky gained a lot more of an understanding of how provincial politics worked.

Phillips helped the Town of Watson - the second-largest community in the Melfort provincial riding - get access to provincial grants, through showing how they could have more success creating applications, and pushing for things in legislature as well.

"He just taught me a lot about dealing with people - how to listen to people's concerns, and how to take those concerns and put them in action. How to follow up with people properly, and make everyone feel that they belong in a community," said Saretsky. "As a mayor he taught me to always put the town's interest first. It may sound simple, but taking your personal opinion out, and every decision you make, and every meeting you hold is what we're doing in the benefit of the Town of Watson first, and everything else just kind of falls into place when you take your personal emotions and opinions out."

But the relationship between the mentor - who died at age 63 - and the student - who became mayor at 27 - wasn't only one of business.

"Kevin and I became friends, and his sense of humour is the one thing I'll remember about him," Saretsky said. "Many different times, at different events we were at, usually he was asked to give a speech, or I was asked to give a speech, and he just always had a way of using his sense of humour to always lighten the mood, and bring things around."

Saretsky recalls Phillips making trips to get to any community event possible, from Remembrance Day ceremonies to a comedic roast of Watson's next mayor, Norma Weber.

Saretsky also remembers getting a text while visiting his sister in Toronto from Phillips saying 16 daycare spots were coming to Watson.

"I just reached out to a few people I know in Watson today," said Saretsky. I don't know what the loss is feeling like in Melfort. Just how it's feeling in Watson, it feels like a beloved town member was lost. I've talked to about five or six people, and everyone is just stunned that he's gone and he won't be back. And he really felt like part of the town, and he's not from Watson. But that's how emotionally invested he was in the town, and he just wanted to see Watson do well, as I know he did in every town in his constituency. If the experience that we had in Watson was how he looked and got involved in the other towns and communities in his constituency, we lost one heck of an MLA."

The name Kevin Phillips may not be bandied about as frequently in the southwest, but Saretsky says they're certainly "big shoes to fill" in the northeast.