Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Henderson loses a great educator

Click to enlarge photo

Clifford Kehoe

I wrote a blog back around Christmas time about the Hinman Elementary School kindergartners making handmade holiday cards and selling them as a fundraiser. To get my information, I was able to spend the afternoon at the school with the assistant principal, Mr. Cliff Kehoe. I was familiar with Mr. Kehoe because he had taught at my own elementary school, Gordon McCaw, years before, and had also been my cousins’ teacher. I had remembered him as someone everyone liked so I knew the afternoon would be enjoyable.

It was.

It was a rainy afternoon the day before Thanksgiving when I headed over to Hinman Elementary. Mr. Kehoe walked me around the entire school, introducing me to teachers and students along the way. You could tell that he was an all-around happy guy who loved to be where he was at the moment. We talked about the holiday card fundraiser but Mr. Kehoe was even more excited to tell me about his program called “Hinman Holiday Hugs.” The students from the school donated new stuffed animals to hospitals and nursing homes and other people who needed them. Mr. Kehoe said it warmed his heart to see kids who barely had anything themselves giving so much. He wanted me to write a blog about the program, but I felt it needed even more attention than I could give, so I referred it on to the news staff. You can read about it here:

Hinman Elementary collects 450 toys for children (12-18-2009)

Mr. Kehoe also told me about a grant the school had received from Trader Joe’s that would be used to help the kids learn nutritional eating and cooking habits. I was to check back in with him at the beginning of the year to learn more about that. Well, as life goes, the beginning of the year came and went. I had it in the back of my mind but still hadn’t called Mr. Kehoe about it. Then, on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, I saw the news doing a special about him. He was sick with cancer and at Nathan Adelson Hospice. I couldn’t believe it. Even if I had tried to contact him at the school, he wouldn’t have been there, because he was fighting cancer. The news special captured the real Mr. Kehoe, because during the interview, he was cracking jokes as usual.

I called my aunt after it aired and she said she had just seen it as well. Both of her boys had had Mr. Kehoe as a teacher at McCaw and he had been their very favorite. We were both just shocked and saddened at this unexpected and terrible news.

Now it has only been two weeks since I saw the story on the news and I got a message on Facebook today from my sister that Mr. Kehoe had passed away on Sunday. It makes me sad that yet another good person has left our realm of understanding. He wasn’t my teacher or even a close personal friend, but he is someone that impacted many people in Henderson, I’m sure. Mr. Kehoe was devoted to service, kids, and spreading happiness. Our community was made better because of him, and for this reason, he deserves to be read about in more than just an obituary.

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