Life of former governor praised

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

In a lifetime that spanned 74 years, Mike O'Callaghan gave and kept giving.

An Army infantryman during the Korean War, he sacrificed his left leg in combat and nearly gave his life when shrapnel from a Chinese-made shell lodged in his back and head.

He gave his leadership as governor of Nevada for eight years in the 1970s and as chairman and executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun for the last 25 years.

He gave his heart to his wife, Carolyn, his five children and 15 grandchildren.

He gave his soul to his church and to his God.

As Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., noted during a funeral Mass for O'Callaghan at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, "he gave his love to the world."

The life of Donal "Mike" O'Callaghan, the most popular, and arguably the most effective, governor in Nevada history, was celebrated Thursday by more than 2,000 mourners at the church near the south end of the Strip. Yet more people watched the Mass live on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channels 1 and 19, which televised the service. He died March 5, before morning Mass at St. Viator Catholic Church.

Guests ranged from the powerful to the homeless, and those whose lives O'Callaghan touched came from all over the world. A who's who of Nevada history and politics -- sitting and former governors, legislators, a U.S. senator -- sat with international dignitaries, veterans, former students, fellow parishioners and the disenfranchised.

Several hundred people followed a procession of police motorcycles and cars to make the long trek to the Southern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City for graveyard services with full military honors to say thank you to a man who had given so much to so many.

"He was a model of support and encouragement," said the Rev. John McVeigh, pastor emeritus at St. Anne Catholic Church, where O'Callaghan long attended. "He always sought to help others. Mike was a man of principle."

In an emotional ceremony that remembered O'Callaghan's quick wit and intellect, the theme was how much he gave.

In addition to the leadership roles he held, he gave quietly as well.

He shared his wisdom with hundreds of students he taught at Basic High School in the 1950s. A former amateur boxer and avid sports fan, he gave his undying support to everything from youth sports teams to champion University of Nevada, Las Vegas squads.

He gave his time and energy to local civic causes that helped improve the quality of life for many, including the homeless to whom he would give pocket money and for whom he would voluntarily serve meals in food lines at homeless shelters.

Either in person or through his Sun column he gave his sage advice to political leaders whether they requested it or not, because surely they would benefit and in the end so would their constituents.

And he traveled the world to help where he could, volunteering to assist in Israel's survival and, at the behest of former President Jimmy Carter, to help establish democracy in Nicaragua by overseeing free elections.

Perhaps most importantly, O'Callaghan spent his time with people, inspiring many.

Reid said when he was 16 he didn't feel he had much to offer until he met O'Callaghan, who as one of his teachers at Basic High instilled in Reid a great sense of self-worth.

"I was an important person to him," Reid said, noting he was not alone and that practically everyone who had contact with O'Callaghan came away with that feeling. "Mike was like a father to me. He taught me what was right and encouraged me to do it."

Reid, the No. 2 man in the Senate Democratic leadership, boxed for coach O'Callaghan and later served as O'Callaghan's lieutenant governor.

"If you were a fighter, Mike was in your corner," Reid said, choking back tears and calling O'Callaghan a "larger-than-life character" who fought for the little guy. "Mike was never too busy to care. ... People around the earth looked to him for his brotherhood."

Sun Editor and President Brian Greenspun, who had also given a eulogy for Sun Assistant to the Publisher Ruthe Deskin, a 50-year employee of the paper, at her funeral last month, eulogized his other venerable mentor at the newspaper as "a man history will admit is one of a kind."

"His life's love was helping others," Greenspun said, noting that O'Callaghan's saga was "a tale of a man who touched people. He was unique and original."

On why O'Callaghan went to work for Greenspun's late father, Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, when he could have written his ticket for cushy jobs in banking or gaming after his second term ended, Brian Greenspun said O'Callaghan "needed to be a voice for the people who didn't have a voice."

In the newsroom, Greenspun said, O'Callaghan taught that "being a good newspaperman is being sensitive to the ... community's welfare."

"Mike left a void so great it will take an entire community and an entire state to fill," he said.

As for O'Callaghan's annual trips to Israel, where he repaired military equipment and slept in soldiers' barracks, Greenspun quipped: "As a devout Irish Catholic, he was the best Jewish person I knew. ... He fought against demagogues and those who preyed on the weak."

O'Callaghan was given many awards, the most recent of which came from the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas for his work.

Near the end of the Mass, which was presided over by Las Vegas Bishop Joseph Pepe, Rabbi Jeremy Widerhorn called O'Callaghan a great friend of Israel and, on behalf of the Southern Nevada Board of Rabbis, said the Kaddish, the traditional Jewish Prayer of Mourning.

And O'Callaghan's eldest son, Mike O'Callaghan Jr., read a letter to mourners from Yuval Rotem, Consul General of Israel and the senior representative of Israel to the southwestern United States, who attended the funeral. In it, Rotem speaks of Israel's gratitude for O'Callaghan and notes his "impact will be felt for generations to come. Mike made this world a better place."

Longtime friend and confidant Eileen Brookman, a former Nevada assemblywoman, first met O'Callaghan when she helped hire him to direct a Christian and Jewish alliance in the 1960s. The two later served together when he was governor, traveled to Israel and Egypt together with their spouses, and lived in the same neighborhood for the past several decades.

At her home Thursday afternoon, Brookman was devastated that she could not attend her "best friend's funeral" because of her poor health. She, like thousands of others, watched it on television. O'Callaghan had visited her bedside the night before he died.

"I loved him with all my heart," Brookman said, adding that she had sent a rose along with her daughter, Debi Lee Brookman, to place in O'Callaghan's casket at the funeral. Her husband, George, was scheduled to speak at O'Callaghan's services, but apparently was too overcome with emotion to address the crowd.

"The part of the world that lost O'Callaghan lost a little piece of humanity that will never be replaced," Eileen Brookman said.

At the cemetery, a military honor guard of seven riflemen each fired three shots, a bugler played taps and jets from Nellis Air Force Base flew over the hallowed ground in the missing man formation -- a final tribute to a man who served the Marine Corps in post-World War II, the Air Force as an intelligence specialist and in the Army. In Korea he earned a Bronze Star with a V for valor and a Silver Star.

A regimental rifle range in Korea is named for O'Callaghan as is a local junior high school, the federal hospital at Nellis Air Force Base and a park in Henderson.

O'Callaghan, who in his younger days was a rancher and ironworker, also was longtime publisher and columnist for the Henderson Home News and Boulder City News, which he bought in 1981. The papers now are published by two of his children. He came to Southern Nevada 48 years ago.

A Democrat who served as governor from 1971 through 1978, O'Callaghan created Nevada's Environmental Commission, Consumer Affairs office, Division of Aging Services, State Energy Department and Housing Division. He championed the landlord-tenant bill, the motorcycle helmet law and a strong open-meeting law.

He fought for funding for education and for government jobs for minorities and women and trimmed the fat out of the budget by eliminating dozens of boards. He did it without raising taxes or creating new ones.

After the funeral a line of police from local and state agencies prepared to escort the funeral procession to Boulder City. Standing outside, a lone bagpiper prepared to play on a bright, warm and sunny Thursday afternoon -- the kind of spring-like weather that inspires happiness and renewal of spirit, not grief and loss.

"I'm going to play 'When Irish Eyes are Smiling' and 'Danny Boy,' " Pipe Major Randy Woodward said. "There'll be no dirges today."

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