Maurer, former city attorney, dies

Kris Hill

Wednesday, May 9, 2001 | 10:02 a.m.

At 6-foot-9 Richard Maurer was hard to miss when he walked through North Las Vegas City Hall during the 10 years he served as city attorney.

Co-workers remember him, however, more for his attitude than his stature.

"He had a certain enthusiasm," North Las Vegas financial director Vytas Vaitkus said. Vaitkus often worked with Maurer, who worked for the city 1989 to 1999, when money issues were part of lawsuits the city was involved in.

"In my view, he always had what was best for the city at heart," Vaitkus said.

Maurer, 56, died Monday from complications of an irregular heartbeat. He would have turned 57 Tuesday.

Services will be 10 a.m. Friday at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St.

Defense attorney Thomas Pitaro had known Maurer for more than 20 years.

"He was just one of the nicest men I ever met," Pitaro said. "He was an outstanding attorney and an outstanding individual. He was a credit to the legal profession, and everyone downtown will miss him."

Born May 8, 1944, in Detroit, Mich., he took his height and athletic ability to a football scholarship at Ferris State College in Michigan. After graduation he went to law school at Detroit College of Law.

Before moving to the North Las Vegas post, Maurer was Las Vegas' city attorney, and he had been vice president of Idlers, Inc. He was a graduate of the FBI National Academy and had been special counsel to Metro, North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments.

Maurer was also an avid outdoorsman and athlete who spent many weekends with friends hunting grouse and pheasant or fishing.

More than 20 years ago he almost gave up on hunting.

Maurer had been hunting birds with an ancient shotgun, and he thought he was a bad shot because he couldn't hit anything, his friend Mike McBan recalled.

But when McBan went hunting with Maurer, he saw pretty quickly why Maurer wasn't bagging birds.

"He had a bent shotgun," said McBan, who took the gun, hit it against the spare tire on the van a couple of times and fixed it.

"I realized later that maybe I should've left it bent," McBan said.

Mauer spent much of his free time experiencing life on the edge, his wife, Susan, said. He learned how to fly a plane as a teenager and later learned how to scuba dive. He loved camping and playing sports.

"He really had a zest for life," his wife said.

Longtime friend and fellow attorney George Lyles said Maurer's love for athletics included playing for years for a softball team called the Killer Bees.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Amy and Kathryn Maurer, both of Las Vegas; son Jeffrey Maurer of Las Vegas; and brother Robert Maurer of Michigan.