Nevadans remember JFK Jr.

Sunday, July 18, 1999 | 2:42 a.m.

"He was one of the only good Kennedys left," Kirker, 66, of Reno said.

"He hasn't been in any embarrassing situations. He's such a young man and I have seen him grow up. I feel the same way I did when JFK died. They both had so much more to give to the country."

Kirker's words were typical of a number of Nevadans, from senators and congressmen to a hotel executive who met him in Las Vegas.

"He had a kindness about him," said Gene Kilroy, an executive at MGM Grand in Las Vegas who is a longtime friend of the Kennedy family.

"I never met anyone who met young John Kennedy and didn't adore him," he said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was part of a group that approached JFK Jr. about running for the vacant Senate seat from New York this year. JFK Jr. declined, saying the timing wasn't right.

"He is President John Kennedy's son," Reid said. "He never tried to hide that, but he never tried to use that, either."

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., was scheduled to be in Martha's Vineyard this weekend for a gathering of Democrats, but stayed in Washington, D.C., to attend a union function instead. He said he met JFK Jr. at a gathering for his magazine, George.

"He has much of the charisma his father and other Kennedys have," Bryan said.

"It seems that each generation of the Kennedy myth seems star-crossed and has faced enormous tragedy. I don't know how one family can be asked to suffer as much as this family has," he said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said the Kennedy family is admired by Republicans and Democrats alike.

"I think when you look back at it, the Kennedy name is probably as well know as Lincoln, or any other individual or family that has played a role in American history," Gibbons said.

Kilroy said he remembers when young Kennedy made a trip to Las Vegas with some friends in his late 20s. He was young, handsome, rich. He could have been a typical Las Vegas high roller.

But one of the first things Kennedy wanted to know was, "Is there a place to play touch football?"

"They woke up at 9 in the morning and played touch football all morning at a school not far from the Golden Nugget," Kilroy said.

As a young adventure-seeking playboy, Kennedy and a group of friends rented convertible Cadillacs and roared across the country from New York to Las Vegas in 1988. They stayed at the Golden Nugget, where Kilroy was an executive.

Kennedy didn't go unrecognized in his first visit to Las Vegas. As he ate breakfast at the casino, people knew his much-photographed face, women eyed him, and the brave went up to speak with him.

"They would tell him how much they loved his father," Kilroy said.

Kilroy remembers the cordial way Kennedy, once named the "sexiest man alive," dealt with well-wishers, autograph seekers and moon-eyed women.

"He would stand up and introduce himself. He would talk to each one of them and shake their hands. I said, 'Doesn't this get annoying? You can't even eat.' He said 'No, they're sincere.'

"He could mix with kings and still relate to the little people."