Veteran Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Nunn dies at 78

Friday, June 22, 2001 | 10:14 a.m.

No one is ever happy to get a ticket from a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper, but former NHP Sgt. Marshall Nunn found himself thanked by those motorists during his 28 years on the force.

"My husband was always glad to help stranded motorists and he kept all of the hand-written letters he got from them and the commendations he received from those he ticketed for speeding and other violations," said Patty Nunn, a retired Clark County and city of Las Vegas 911 dispatcher.

"And he was most proud of the fact that in his career, he never once drew his weapon in the line of duty."

Marshall "Sarge" Nunn, who long patrolled the infamous "widow-maker" stretch of U.S. 95 to the Nevada Test Site and at one time was the longest-serving trooper in the department's history, died Monday of heart failure at his Las Vegas home. He was 78.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 50 years will be 1:30 p.m. June 29 at Palm Mortuary Downtown.

Nunn's one-time department longevity record was 28 years and five months, from his hire date of Oct. 15, 1952, to his retirement on Feb. 20, 1981.

"He was a textbook veteran sergeant -- one of the originals," said NHP Capt. Jack Snyder, who as a rookie served under Nunn. "Sarge is to the generation of troopers who now are facing retirement the image of the kind of troopers we wanted to be when we were young."

In his career it was estimated that Nunn, the 21st trooper hired by the department, investigated on average 45 injury accidents a month, made 24,000 arrests -- either physical or through issuing citations -- and logged 750,000 patrol miles.

His 300-mile patrol route for 24 years included the California state line to Mount Charleston, U.S. 95 north to Mercury at the Test Site and U.S. 95 south to Searchlight and Laughlin.

At the time he retired, Nunn was the only NHP trooper to have spent his entire career patrolling the same route.

"At one point he almost considered quitting earlier because he was stressed over the numbers of horrible fatal accidents he responded to on the widow-maker," Patty Nunn, his second wife, said Thursday.

Nunn did his job under other trying conditions. NHP patrol cars were not equipped with air-conditioning until 1964. Early on, cars were equipped with 30-watt radios -- the only means of communication from remote areas.

"We'd pull up to a metal billboard to radio in. That way we got better reception," Nunn told the Sun in a Feb. 20, 1981, story. As for hot-weather duty, Nunn said, "I'd go through four sets of uniforms every summer."

In his early years on the force there were no speed limits. Nunn recalled cars passing his patrol car at 85 mph.

Born Oct. 9, 1922, in Los Angeles, Nunn was the youngest of three children of contractor Elbert Nunn and the former Lucille Zitting. He attended Los Angeles Polytechnic High School but dropped out to work to help his family.

Patty said one of Sarge's greatest regrets in life was that he never finished school, but she said his common sense and logic made up for it.

Nunn served in the Navy aboard the USS Blackhawk during World War II. After the war, he was a civilian printer for the Navy.

He came to Las Vegas in 1951 to work for his mother and her second husband, Walter Pein, at Pein's grocery store in North Las Vegas. The late Curly DeMille, a friend and NHP trooper, suggested to Nunn that he join the department because of his military background.

There was no training school back in those days, so Nunn learned the $250-a-month job simply by doing it.

"You spent the first year at the port of entry, next to where the Hacienda Hotel is now," Nunn told the Sun in 1981. "After that, you rode a few shifts with another trooper, then you were on your own."

Nunn, who was promoted to sergeant in 1966, worked under six chiefs, went through three uniform style changes and served under five Nevada governors.

In 1960 Nunn was honored by being selected for temporary duty at the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley.

During retirement, Nunn enjoyed pistol range shooting. In the early 1980s he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer but survived the disease. He died following a lengthy battle with heart problems.

In addition to his wife, Nunn is survived by a son, Ricky Nunn of Elko; a daughter, Linda Crisp of Hendersonville, N.C.; a brother, Elbert Nunn of Roseville, Calif.; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.