Former Henderson council member Roberts dies

Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998 | 10:31 a.m.

Dale Walter Roberts, who as a Henderson City Councilman in the 1960s focused on building the community's population and appropriating funds for recreational projects, has died. He was 62.

Roberts, the son of longtime Henderson resident and city planning commissioner Mary Roberts, died of cancer Monday at St. Rose Dominican Hospital.

He was the owner-operator of D&S Coins in Henderson and a resident of the city for 40 years.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Peter's Catholic Church, Henderson. Visitation will be 2-5 p.m. Friday at Palm Mortuary-Henderson.

"Dale was always prepared and was knowledgeable of the issues," said former Henderson Mayor Lorna Kesterson, who as a reporter and editor of the Henderson Home News covered the City Council when Roberts served on it from 1963-67.

"He did a lot of work to try and bring new residents to town."

Kesterson, who became mayor in the 1970s, dealt with just the opposite issue -- how to handle booming growth. Roberts did not have to worry about that, as Henderson was a huge land mass with a tiny population during his tenure in city government.

Born Aug. 7, 1935, in Guernsey, Wyo., Roberts was a Navy pilot from 1955-63. He moved to Southern Nevada in 1958.

In the 1963 municipal election, Roberts received what was then the largest number of votes ever cast for a candidate in a Henderson City Council race.

Roberts was appointed as the Henderson City Council representative on the Clark County Fair and Recreation Board, which today is known as the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

In that position, Roberts was credited with getting significant funds appropriated for Henderson recreation facilities.

In 1966, he ran for the state assembly.

Roberts was a member of the Henderson Eagles, a former member of the Henderson Masonic Lodge, a past treasurer of the Henderson Young Democrats and a past vice chairman of the Henderson Democratic Club.

In addition to his mother, Roberts is survived by his wife, Sharon Roberts; three daughters, Brenda Roberts, Dalene Heggen and LaRaye Roberts, all of Henderson; three sisters, Myrtle Fator, also of Henderson, Jana Lundgren of Concord, Calif., and Lana Kirkman of Roswell, N.M.; a brother, Ronald Marks of Hisperia, Calif.; and five grandchildren.