Longtime deputy recorder, Metro Police worker dies

Friday, Jan. 2, 1998 | 11:20 a.m.

At age 72, Mary Rivers was out and about collecting pledges and preparing for what would be her 11th and final 20-mile walkathon for the March of Dimes.

Some more skeptical folks, thinking that a woman of such an advanced age would, at best, complete five miles, pledged far more than the standard dime or quarter per mile, thinking their donation still would be a modest gift. That was not to be the case.

"She finished the 20 miles every time -- mother always went the extra distance in everything she did," said Dan Rivers, a retired Metro Police officer. "She was not pretentious or flashy. She was a simple woman who had a lot of class."

Mary Rivers, who worked 28 years as a deputy Clark County recorder and later became one of the first hires under a Metro Police program to employ senior citizens to help out in the records department, has died. She was 82.

Rivers, who remained active and kept in top physical condition during her retirement years, died of a respiratory ailment Monday at a local convalescent center, where she has been since May.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 49 years will be 9:30 a.m. Monday at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, of which she was a longtime member. Visitation will be noon-5 p.m. Saturday and 3-7 p.m. Sunday at the same location. Interment will be in a mausoleum crypt at Palm Mortuary.

Dan Rivers, who retired from the police department 10 years ago after working in patrol, burglary, larceny and several other departments, credited his mother for setting the good example in life that he has followed.

"It was difficult for her because she was single mother -- I never knew my dad -- and she had to not only maintain a job but also had to be both a mother and a father figure to me," he said.

"When I told her I wanted to sell newspapers she taught me the correct way to make change and told me to be polite to people."

A native of upstate New York, Rivers was the second oldest of five children born to Clementine and John Pasini, a grape grower and farmer. They instilled in Mary and their other children a strong work ethic at a very young age.

"Living on the farm, mom and the others had to do a number of chores before walking long distances to school," Dan said. "There was no bus system back then."

During a brief marriage, which ended in divorce, Mary gave birth to Dan, who in the mid-1940s was diagnosed with bronchitis and required a drier climate.

On the advice of doctors, she and her son moved from Buffalo, N.Y., to Southern California, then to Tucson, Ariz., before being told about Las Vegas and moving here on May 1, 1948.

"She never had a desire to go back to Buffalo," Dan said. "She loved the warmer climate and the small-town atmosphere of Las Vegas. When we moved here, there were only about 25,000 residents. And, she especially loved going to the Helldorado parades."

During her years of working in local government, Mary served as a deputy recorder under three county recorders -- David Farnsworth, Paul O'Malley and Paul Horn. Her duties included recording deeds and transactions.

When Metro started a program in the mid-1970s to employ seniors in the records department, Rivers was among the initial wave of hires. She held the position for 11 years, before failing eyesight made it difficult for her to read the report numbers.

Mary often told her son that working well past the age of retirement kept her thinking and feeling young.

"As a police officer, I'd often go down to records, and I'd see her working, and she'd always be smiling and enjoying what she was doing," Dan said. "She was an easy-going person. If something bothered her, she never let it show."

From 1977-87, Mary was active with the March of Dimes. Despite the small pledges for each mile she completed in the walkathon, Mary managed to raise a couple thousand dollars during the years she participated. One year, Dan estimates, she collected $300 for completing the 20-mile trek.

In addition to her son, Rivers is survived by a brother, Frederick Pasini, of Brocton, N.Y.; a grandson, Dan Rivers II of Las Vegas; and several nieces and nephews in Cleveland. She was preceded in death by two brothers and her sister.

DONATIONS: In Rivers' memory to the Alzheimer's Foundation or the March of Dimes.