Edward Burdick, the longtime chief clerk of the Minnesota House, died Wednesday. Burdick had held the job for 37 years, retiring in 2004 at the age of 83. He had first begun working for the Minnesota House in 1941, and was a nationally-recognized expert on parliamentary procedure. In a rare honor to a living Minnesotan, a bust of Burdick -- with glasses, tie and wavy hair -- has for several years sat at the main entrance to the Minnesota House chamber. Burdick, who was known for his distinct, booming voice, was one of the last ties to the old days of the Minnesota House One of his first acts upon being named chief clerk in 1967 was to remove the brass spittoons from the foot of each desk in the House chamber at the State Capitol in St. Paul. "What should people remember? It's that voice," said former House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who said she was on her way Wednesday morning to visit Burdick when she learned he had died. Kelliher said she remembered when Burdick came back to visit the Minnesota House after his retirement. "He sat in the front row of the [House] gallery one day," she said. "I think I asked Al [Mathiowetz, the current chief clerk] if I could introduce him as the greatest chief clerk. "We gave Ed quite a standing ovation," Kelliher added. House Speaker Kurt Zellers called Burdick "a Minnesota icon", and said the House would observe his death today. Burdick, he said, "truly defined the meaning of public servant."