Services for Mike O'Callaghan will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer, 55 E. Reno Ave.
WEEKEND EDITION: March 7, 2004
To the end Las Vegas Sun Chairman Mike O'Callaghan's desk was awash in a sea of paperwork that covered every square inch of space.
Atop that scattered mound of work Friday morning was a small green case containing his reading glasses, and a yellow highlight pen.
Just to the right lay an invitation from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, inviting the former two-term Nevada governor to a March 22 Barrick Lecture Series address by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Just below it sat a copy of the Ralston Report by Sun columnist Jon Ralston. O'Callaghan had highlighted a passage, noting that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry "opposes opening the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain" -- undoubtedly fodder for a future column.
To the right of that sat a letter from Midbar Kodesh Temple, thanking O'Callaghan for agreeing to be on the Honorary Dinner Committee for the synagogue's April 25 annual gala.
Just to the left of that was a letter to the editor opposing the legalization of marijuana.
And that was just a sampling of the items that divided the time of O'Callaghan -- items that mortality has prevented him from addressing.
Donal "Mike" O'Callaghan died Friday from an apparent heart attack suffered as he waited for morning Mass at St. Viator Catholic Church. Attending Mass was part of his routine before going to work. He was 74.
For 25 years at the Sun and the eight years prior to that -- from 1971 to 1979 -- as governor of Nevada, O'Callaghan spread his attention to address the needs of so many.
Long before that he gave unselfishly of himself to his nation. He served in the Marines, Air Force and the Army. He earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star with V for valor and a Purple Heart in Korea, where he lost his left leg.
Flags at state buildings, including the Capitol, are flying at half-staff, a tribute to O'Callaghan's importance to the people of Nevada who mourn his loss. The words of O'Callaghan's friends, colleagues and others paint a vivid portrait of a man who wielded great influence and accomplished so much in one lifetime.
***
Joe Assalone, a retired postal worker and Korean War veteran, knew O'Callaghan from the numerous AFL-CIO conventions that O'Callaghan attended. Many of the labor awards given out each year are in O'Callaghan's name, Assalone said.
Assalone noted a little-known part of O'Callaghan's life, his quiet service to others that never garnered awards.
"How many (people) knew of his getting up early and serving coffee and doughnuts to the homeless," he said. "A novel the size of "Gone With the Wind" could not give him enough justice and space to tell of his wonderful accomplishments. He never ever let an ego get in his way. He took the time to talk with everybody."
***
Until a few weeks ago when he began attending services at St. Viator, O'Callaghan was a regular at St. Anne Catholic Church on Maryland Parkway. The parish priest, the Rev. Francis Timoney, called O'Callaghan "a deeply spiritual man -- a man of great faith and introspection."
Timoney recalled when he was given his first parish in Hawthorne in 1974 and coached a basketball team for underprivileged Hispanic boys. When the team had a game in Carson City, Timoney called the governor's office and asked if O'Callaghan might have time to meet with them.
"He said to me, 'Padre, you bring those kids right over,' " Timoney said. "He was so gracious to those boys. He made a lasting impression on them. That says so much about the kind of man he was and how much he cared about people, especially young people."
Bishop Joseph A. Pepe, head of the Las Vegas Diocese, echoed that sentiment, calling O'Callaghan's death a great loss of a great man.
"Gov. O'Callaghan has been a tremendous friend and faithful supporter of the Catholic Church and community throughout his life," Pepe said. "He was a rare breed among men whose leadership, heart and enthusiasm changed the face of our state. He never ever forgot the little guy."
***
Israeli Gen. Aharon Davidi, president of Sar-el (Volunteers for Israel), remembered O'Callaghan as a man "imbued with a deep sense of justice and an uncompromising support for of those who do not succumb to terror."
He credited O'Callaghan with following the example of late Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun in his efforts to preserve Israel.
"Those in Israel, friends, acquaintances in any walk of life appreciated his (O'Callaghan's) concern for our country," Davidi said from his home in Israel. "He met with high-ranking officials, including the president and prime minister, as well as with people on buses or in bombed Kiryat Shmona."
***
Jerry Bussell, state Homeland Security adviser, said he couldn't describe how much he was going to miss his friend.
Bussell recalled a meeting he had with O'Callaghan on a cold night near Boise, Idaho, when O'Callaghan was governor in the 1970s.
"I was a young Nevada National Guard captain, and we were running war games out in the desert on this freezing, rotten night, and the governor was supposed to be a VIP guest," Bussell said. "He was supposed to stay in the back in a nice hotel with the other VIPs, but that wasn't Mike's style.
"He was a soldier, not a VIP."
Bussell said he was hunkered down with his troops in the Idaho desert about 3 a.m. when he heard a commotion coming from the end of their lines.
"I looked down and there was Mike out with us," Bussell said. "He got right down in the dirt with us to see how we were doing."
***
Las Vegas attorney Michael Stuhff, a longtime friend, called O'Callaghan a hands-on governor.
"Once he went to tour the state's mental hospital and he ate in the lunchroom among the patients," Stuhff said. "One patient, seeing the new face, sat beside O'Callaghan and asked: 'Who are you?'
"Mike said, 'I'm the governor.'
"The man got a concerned look on his face and put his finger to his lips and said: 'Shhhhhhhh. Don't let anyone hear you say that or they'll never let you out of here!' "
***
O'Callaghan worked with former President Jimmy Carter as an election observer in Nicaragua, and O'Callaghan volunteered with Carter's foundation.
Carter, in a letter to O'Callaghan's wife, Carolyn, wrote:
"Mike is one of our world's great treasures, and we (Rosalynn and I) are proud to be among those who have been personally touched by his warmth and friendship. We share the sorrow of Nevadans and indeed people throughout the nation who mourn the passing of a great man."
***
Casino industry giant Steve Wynn, who built The Mirage and Treasure Island and is preparing to open his latest resort, Wynn Las Vegas, on the site of the old Desert Inn, called O'Callaghan "an extraordinary man for his time and for the whole history of Nevada since statehood."
"He was a man who identified with the problems and struggles of ordinary people and was a man who tried to make life better for everyone," Wynn said. "Mike believed that the most important thing about government was that it was fair and evenhanded for all.
"Often his decisions displeased the left and often they displeased the right. What was magnificent about this man was, in fact, that whether his philosophy put him on your side or on the other side at any given moment, one always respected the integrity of his thinking."
***
Dwight Presfield, 56, a local courier who often delivered items to offices within the Las Vegas Sun building, came under O'Callaghan's censure last summer for parking in a handicapped space.
Presfield said he and other couriers often parked in the handicapped spaces to save time. When O'Callaghan first asked him to move, Presfield did not know who he was and dismissed the rebuke.
The following Sunday, Presfield said he came across O'Callaghan's column and then looked up who he was. When Presfield read about the former governor's accomplishments during the Korean War, Presfield, a Vietnam veteran, said he experienced a life-changing moment.
"I really felt about a half-inch tall because it just hit me that here is this man who has won the Silver Star, lost his leg in Korea, and he does not park in the handicapped space," Presfield said. "And I thought, 'Who in God's name am I? What have I been doing?' "
Presfield apologized to O'Callaghan and from then on talked with him whenever he saw him. O'Callaghan never failed to call him by name and ask how he was doing, Presfield said. Presfield said he has never parked in any handicapped parking space since.
"He was an inspiration to me," Presfield said. "I looked up to him so very much. He's the type of person we should all aspire to be."
***
Wayne Newton knew O'Callaghan since Newton was age 15. As Newton recalls, O'Callaghan wrote the permit that allowed Newton to perform in casino lounges despite being underage.
Newton called it "a life-changing event."
The two remained friends for decades.
"No doubt heaven is a brighter place today and our world not so bright," Newton said. "However, we can all rest assured Mike has gone ahead to check it out for the rest of us, because that's how he is."
***
Las Vegas Councilman Gary Reese, who represents the district in which O'Callaghan lived, remembered the man affectionately called "Big Mike."
"I had a nephew who played baseball at UNLV, and I met him as 'Big Mike,' " said Reese, who runs Gary and Derrill's Barbershop at Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road. "I didn't know who he was until someone told me that was Gov. O'Callaghan.
"I'd see him at UNLV games, and we'd just sit there and eat peanuts."
***
Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury remembered O'Callaghan as "a wonderful and wise man (who) had a great feel for the common-sense approach to everything, and was very down to earth."
Woodbury remembered O'Callaghan from high school.
"I was at Las Vegas High School and he was a teacher at Basic High School," he said. "We were rivals. He remembered how I played basketball. He just had a wonderful way of remembering good things."
But Woodbury also remembered O'Callaghan's not-so-tender side: "He didn't tolerate fools gladly. He would never hesitate to express his opinion, but always in a way that people could benefit from it.
"I was never present when he was anything other than friendly and gentle. But when he was talking, you could see there was a side of him that, if he thought somebody was acting in any way unethically or not keeping his word or trying to play politics with the serious business of the people, he would not hesitate to call those people to account."
***
Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a decorated Vietnam War-era veteran, lauded O'Callaghan's military and public service.
"Mike was a fighter -- even before he served in Korea. As a young man, he was an amateur boxer," Kerry said. "As governor, he fought for the working people and children of Nevada. As executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun, Mike fought for truth. And he also found time to fight for justice abroad -- from Nicaragua to Israel, Mike had a passion for freedom."
Kerry said O'Callaghan would "be missed most by the citizens of Nevada who were lucky enough to know him best."
"Mike O'Callaghan was an American hero who will always be missed," Kerry said.
***
Manny Cortez, president and chief executive of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said O'Callaghan "is one of those guys who was supposed to continue on forever."
Cortez attributed his success as one of the most respected tourism executives in the world to the faith O'Callaghan showed in him early in Cortez's career.
"He supported me a thousand percent, but he never intruded or interfered," Cortez said of his time with the Nevada Taxicab Authority, to which he was appointed by O'Callaghan in 1973. "I can't tell you the number of people he met as kids that he has helped that are now successful businessmen in large part because of the interest he took in them."
***
Robert Forbuss, a political and business consultant with Rogich Communications and a former chairman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said he admired O'Callaghan's tenacity and the support he showed for all public servants.
Forbuss, the former owner of the Mercy Ambulance Co., the predecessor of American Medical Response in Las Vegas, said he never forgot how O'Callaghan in 1981 climbed stairs to the sixth floor of the Las Vegas Hilton to support firefighters working to put out a disastrous fire.
"I remember Gov. O'Callaghan arrived at the scene and was told that he couldn't go up," Forbuss recalled. "He just said, 'Yes I am. I'm going up.' Then he climbed all the way up six flights to support firefighters who were working a floor below the fire."
Forbuss worked for O'Callaghan's gubernatorial campaign, walking precincts together with his mentor.
"He always inspired me. I always looked to him for guidance," Forbuss said. "And he always had time for young people. When I was teaching at Bishop Gorman High School, coaching debate and forensics, he was just elected governor and I called him at the mansion in Carson City. He answered the phone himself and when I heard his voice, I almost dropped the phone. I asked him if he would present the awards for a debate competition and he said, 'No problem, when do you want me to be there?' "
***
William Boyd, chairman and chief executive of Boyd Gaming Corp., recalled that his father, Sam, worked closely with the governor.
"Gov. O'Callaghan was one of our great governors in a time when our state was evolving and growing," Boyd said. "He was the right governor at the right time."
***
Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly said he didn't know O'Callaghan well, and he was surprised to get a call from him when first running for office.
"I thought 'Wow, is this the real Mike O'Callaghan?' " Weekly said. "For him to seek me out like he did and give me advice and words of encouragement was a blessing."
The advice? "It was to be yourself, have fun, do the best job you can and realize you won't be able to please everybody."
***
Selma Bartlett, executive vice president of BankWest of Nevada and a resident of Henderson for 50 years, remembered O'Callaghan making plenty of noise in the stands at Basic High School basketball games.
O'Callaghan was a big supporter of youth sports.
"Everybody knew when he was there, and he was always there," she said.
Bartlett said the former governor was a champion of Nevada, its cities and its people long before anyone ever thought the area would be more than an outpost.
"I have watched him make things happen that people said could never be done," she said. "He made sure the little worker was looked after just the same as those with wealth. If he thought it was right, he did everything he could to make it happen and make it succeed."
***
Donald "Pat" Shalmy, president of Nevada Power Co., said O'Callaghan was a key presence when he began two high-profile jobs, as Clark County manager in 1979 and as head of the power company in 2002.
Shalmy said he called O'Callaghan shortly after he began both jobs and heard the same line: "It's going to be a tough job."
"He did that to me twice," Shalmy said. "But both times he said I was the right man for the job. ... That meant a lot."
He also said the governor was a tough presence at the newspaper, recalling editorial board meetings with O'Callaghan at the head of the table.
"He was a dominant figure," Shalmy said. "Sometimes we weren't in agreement, but he was always fair."
The utility boss also said that presence sometimes hid O'Callaghan's true character.
"He could come across as crusty and gruff, but he had the most charitable heart of anyone I have known," Shalmy said.
***
Longtime United Press International Las Vegas bureau chief Myram Borders covered the activities of O'Callaghan when he was governor.
"Mike was a standup guy who shined a light on government, on the rights of its citizens and on the public's right to know," she said of the man who played a major role in the creation of a strong state open-meeting law.
"He was always available and he started his day much too early for media, holding meetings at 6 a.m. You called the Governor's Mansion, and he would answer the phone.
"And he was so Irish, with the temper, the temperament and the soft heart."
***
Harriet Trudell, O'Callaghan's gubernatorial aide from 1973 to 1978, said, "What made him such a good governor was that he knew how government worked at all levels. He was just as good as gold."
***
Former Gov. Bob Miller called O'Callaghan Thursday night to invite the man he called his mentor to the upcoming Gorbachev event.
Miller said O'Callaghan was excited about the prospect of meeting Gorbachev because O'Callaghan had visited Russia while Gorbachev was in power, but never had the chance to speak with him.
Miller said O'Callaghan would offer him advice almost daily when Miller was in office.
"In all my years in public service, Gov. Mike was there to offer advice, whether I wanted it or not," Miller said. "If he didn't like what you were doing he'd let you know."
Miller recalled a discussion with O'Callaghan several years ago, when O'Callaghan told him he was making a trip to war-torn Nicaragua.
Miller said O'Callaghan told him the rebels were afraid to go into town because they feared they would be shot on sight, so they asked O'Callaghan, who had established some ties in the country, to go with them.
"He told me he was going to walk into town with them," Miller explained. "I couldn't believe it. He was so fearless."
***
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., remembered O'Callaghan as "a man who never let anything slow him down."
"I had the highest respect and admiration for Gov. O'Callaghan, a decorated war veteran and an icon in Nevada history," he said. "He served not only his state but this nation with honor and valor.
"A fair-minded man, Gov. O'Callaghan was dedicated to making government responsive to the needs of its people. He will be forever remembered as one of Nevada's finest governors."
***
Former Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff remembered his close friend as a man who "seemed indestructable."
He recalled that while O'Callaghan was a teacher in Henderson, he moonlighted at the Henderson Home News, which was run by Zenoff's brother Morry. "He used to set type and I met him there," Zenoff said. "I hired him to be my juvenile officer," said Zenoff, a former District judge in Clark County who now lives in La Costa, Calif. "He was in pain every day of his life. He was the bravest guy I have ever known."
***
Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Shearing remembered O'Callaghan as a "strong supporter of the judiciary and its role as an independent branch of government."
"He especially took great care in his appointment of District judges as the courts expanded with the boom times during his administration," she said. "It should be remembered that he appointed the first African-American judge to the District Court bench, Addeliar D. Guy, in Las Vegas.
"As a Las Vegas Sun executive, he supported the judiciary's reforms and the causes of justice and the rule of law. Whether as governor or through his column, Gov. O'Callaghan always held politicians' feet to the fire and did what he believed was right, whether or not it was popular.
"His positions were rooted in his great common sense and he always considered the people of our state."
***
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman recalled O'Callaghan as a man who, "even though he was a big shot, didn't act like a big shot."
Goodman, an attorney, remembered an extradition request for one of Goodman's clients when O'Callaghan was governor. Typically, a governor is asked to sign the extradition papers, a formality required to send a crime suspect from one state to another.
The client was indicted in New York in a case so important to authorities there that the prosecutor came to Nevada himself to file the paperwork, Goodman said.
It was such a heated case that at the courthouse, "we got into a fistfight," Goodman said.
When the extradition request came before then-Gov. O'Callaghan, "he gave me a hearing," said Goodman. "He was the only governor to give us an extradition hearing."
Goodman recalled talking to O'Callaghan last week when he "called to see how my son was doing," Goodman said. "He knew my son Ross was a major in the Marine Corps, and Mike being a Marine just wanted to check on my son.
"That's how Mike was. He was just a regular guy that you could talk to. You'd go in to talk to him and it wasn't like he was the governor. He wasn't an imperious person."
***
Former Rep. Jim Bilbray, D-Nev., who said he first met O'Callaghan at a county Democratic convention in 1965, called him as a "big, burly, good-natured Irishman -- the last guy in the world I'd want to get into a fight with."
Bilbray described O'Callaghan as a "no-nonsense guy and a good, moral man."
***
Paul Laxalt, who served as governor from 1967 to 1971 and U.S. senator from 1974 to 1987, called O'Callaghan "one of the most skillful and colorful political figures in the state's history,"
"Although we worked to elect his opponent in the 1970 campaign for governor, we learned quickly that Mike was a very formidable opponent, a tireless campaigner and a terrific candidate," Laxalt said.
"Like the boxer he was (as a youth), Mike fought tenaciously on behalf of those causes in which he believed so deeply, such as prison reform, fair housing and providing help to workers injured on the job."
***
Las Vegas Councilman Larry Brown said O'Callaghan was a humble man who cared deeply about others and said little about himself.
Brown, a former professional baseball player, said in 1982 he spent three weeks playing in Reno. In that time, Brown said, there was one fan who always sat in the front row cheering.
When Brown moved to Las Vegas in 1983 he noticed the same man, whom he knew only as "Big Mike."
"About a month into the season someone told me that was the former governor," Brown said.
After his playing career, as he was preparing for politics, Brown said he went to O'Callaghan for advice. "He was a tremendous influence on me," he said. "He was 110 percent honest with you whether you wanted to hear it or not."
***
District Attorney David Roger said he went to O'Callaghan on several occasions for advice, both before and after he was elected district attorney.
"He was a true gentleman," Roger said. "He contributed much to this state."
***
Nevada Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, called O'Callaghan "one of the best governors I ever had the pleasure to work with" and a "hands-on guy who always took his responsibilities seriously and dealt with them decisively and fairly."
"He broke tradition for a governor -- (he was) always in the halls of the Legislature and grabbing you when you walked by, particularly on issues like the (motorcycle) helmet law," Raggio said.
And, Raggio said, you never knew when O'Callaghan would call to discuss issues.
"I would get a call (from him) at 5 a.m. or in the middle of the night," Raggio said.
***
Gov. Kenny Guinn said O'Callaghan walked many paths in life.
"As a veteran, he demonstrated how to proceed in life despite the loss of a limb," Guinn said. "As a teacher in Henderson, he influenced a generation of students. As governor, he left a legacy as one of the most popular figures in our state's history, tackling such tough issues as the welfare of disadvantaged children, the preservation of Lake Tahoe and affordable housing in Las Vegas.
"As (executive) editor of the Las Vegas Sun, he served not only as an important voice in Nevada, but also acted as its conscience. As a devoted husband and father, he took great pride in the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren.
Guinn said when he served as superintendent of the Clark County School District, he expected early morning telephone calls from O'Callaghan.
"But more importantly, I knew that I had a friend and could speak freely with him," he said. "Mike O'Callaghan set a standard in his office that I have always worked to maintain."
***
Richard Bryan, former Nevada governor and U.S. senator, said O'Callaghan "redefined the office of governor."
"He always viewed his voice as being an advocate for those with no voice," Bryan said. "He was tough but fair, a trustworthy, compassionate man."
Bryan and O'Callaghan would have lunch together and visit often since they shared the "common bond" of being governors, a relationship that continued even after Bryan left office.
***
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said O'Callaghan "will never be replaced in the hearts of Nevadans, just as Nevada was always first in Mike's heart."
"Throughout his life he fought tirelessly for important causes, Ensign said.
***
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Santini, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican, said he had a "long-standing debt of gratitude" to O'Callaghan for his appointment to the Clark County District Court.
"Without question he was one of the most formidable and unforgettable political presences in the state of Nevada in the latter part of the 20th century," said Santini, who served on the bench from 1971 to 1974, then was elected to the House of Representatives in 1975, where he served until 1983.
***
Gary Peck, executive director of Nevada's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was with O'Callaghan on Thursday at the Sun offices for an editorial board meeting.
"As always, he was sharp, he spoke his mind and was clearly informed on the issues," Peck said. "Mike oftentimes didn't agree with us but he was always fair and listened to the other point of view. He was a remarkable man and extraordinarily decent."
***
Nevada AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Danny Thompson called O'Callaghan a "true best friend of labor.
"He understood what it is to have to pay the bills and struggle to make a living," Thompson said.
"As governor, his experiences in life, those that affected working families, were reflected in his administration."
***
John Momot, a prominent local defense attorney, said he considered O'Callaghan a friend for more than 30 years.
"I just loved him," Momot said. "He was a hero, a statesman, a war veteran, a politician, a man's man. It's a real loss to our community."
Momot said O'Callaghan was a down to earth man who had a knack for making everyone feel special. Over the years, O'Callaghan would monitor Momot's cases and routinely call the attorney and offer words of encouragement, he said.
"I just thought it was so wonderful for a man of his stature to pick up the phone and call me," he said. "He was a special guy."
***
Myer Bodoff, president and chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, noted that O'Callaghan was honored by the federation on Feb. 8 when he receieved its David L. Simon Bridge Builder for Peace Award.
"We considered him one of the strongest friends the state of Israel had in the state of Nevada," he said. "Mike leaves a legacy of honesty and integrity we all need to follow."
***
Former Las Vegas Councilman Steve Miller recalled how a Sun reporter once called "to ask if I was ever on probation. I answered truthfully. She then asked if Mike O'Callaghan had ever been my probation officer. I said yes.
"Memories of a painful event that occurred more than 40 years ago came flowing back to mind -- an event so embarrassing that my parents went to court to have the record sealed. Now, so many years later, I was being asked about it by a reporter.
"The image of myself as a frightened 17-year-old sitting across a desk from the most formidable figure I had ever encountered, Clark County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Mike O'Callaghan, lay vivid in my mind.
He said O'Callaghan laid out the law to him:
" 'If you don't straighten out, I'm going to recommend that Judge Zenoff sentence you to Spring Mountain Youth Camp until you're 18,' " he said O'Callaghan yelled.
"I wasn't really a bad kid, just one of those pains in the ass that a man like O'Callaghan loved to deal with," Miller said.
"Me and a bunch of my friends got arrested one hot Saturday night for giving out beer at the Tip Top Drive In. The next morning, I came face to face with Mike O'Callaghan. His cold eyes cut through me like a knife from across the desk. Well, to make a long story short, Mike straightened me out."
***
Mike Sloan, senior vice president of Mandalay Resort Group and a longtime friend, said O'Callaghan played a crucial role in the development of modern-day Nevada.
Sloan said O'Callaghan helped clean up the image of gaming in Nevada and set a high ethical standard for politicians to follow.
"You couldn't think of a figure in Nevada politics who was of such overwhelming significance and importance," Sloan said. "He was astounding. In so many aspects of his life, he touched people.
"He was an everyday hard-working, hard-charging guy who always wanted to know what ordinary people thought. He believed his role in life was to help the little guy. The big guys were doing fine by themselves."
***
Phil Hannifin, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board when O'Callaghan was governor, said O'Callaghan always insisted on "good clean government" and never interfered with the regulation of the gambling industry.
But Hannifin said O'Callaghan insisted that he had to talk to reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who at the time owned six casinos in Nevada.
O'Callaghan and Hannifin flew to London where they met Hughes to talk about such things as who was going to be in charge of the Nevada gaming operations. Hannifin recalls that Hughes and O'Callaghan got into an argument.
"They were yelling at each other. They were like two old bulls in the pasture." The argument was whether O'Callaghan should be able to talk to the press about the meeting. Hughes objected.
Hannifin recalled that O'Callaghan told Hughes "If you think I've come all this way to talk to you and not tell the press and the public, you're wrong."
***
Timothy C. Brown, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, a longtime diplomat throughout Latin America and author of several books on Nicaragua, knew O'Callaghan for almost 40 years.
"The closest memory I have of Mike is his incredible courage in championing the underdog and causes he believed in," Brown said.
One example occurred when the two were together in Nicaragua at the end of the 1980s, where Brown was a senior liaison to the Contras from 1987 to 1990 and to the United Nations during the same period.
"We observed the forced evacuation of the Sumu Indians into horrible camps run by the United Nations," Brown recalled. "Within 10 days, 90 percent of the babies under 2 and adults over 60 were dead. This was a largely swept-under-the-rug event in a long war. But O'Callaghan made sure it wasn't entirely ignored, Brown said, noting: "He bore witness ... took photos, and wrote an op-ed piece."
***
Major Gen. Stephen G. Wood, Air Warfare Center commander at Nellis Air Force Base, called O'Callaghan a "man with more extraordinary character and patriotism than anyone else I know."
"From the beginning, Mike put service to his country and service to the community as the focus of his life," Wood said.
"Gov. O'Callaghan has been a great friend and staunch supporter of Nellis Air Force Base and the veterans of Nevada for more years than I can count. His memory will live on in the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis and through the people whose lives he touched.
***
David Cherry, 33, spokesman for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said O'Callaghan was the first politician that ever made an impact on him.
"He's the first person I noticed," Cherry said.
"When I was young, he was governor, he was such a well-known figure. Nevada was a small state at the time, but he was a larger-than-life figure," Cherry said. "He's the model all the other Democrats sought to model themselves after. He was just revered. He's in a category by himself."
***
One of former Sun reporter Mary O'Driscoll's favorite stories of O'Callaghan involved a trip to a 1985 Nevada Press Association meeting in Carson City.
"He met me for breakfast and we walked across the street,' O'Driscoll said. "As soon as he walked into the building, people came out of nowhere to pay respect, shake his hand, say, 'Hi, governor.' We could barely walk down the hall because people were stopping him so much. It really was an extraordinary experience."
Another "classic O'Callaghan" moment was when he called her at 8:30 p.m. one day to tell her and a television reporter friend who was at her house of a secret Ways and Means Committee meeting taking place, so they could crash it.
O'Driscoll worked for the Sun from 1983 to 1985 and covered the Legislature.
"We kept in touch after I left then Sun in 1985, and he came to my wedding in 1987. He had a wonderful way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world when you talked to him," said O'Driscoll, who now covers Congress for Environment and Energy Daily in Washington, D.C.
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Karen Galatz, director of migration and refugee services for Catholic Charities and a former Las Vegas Sun reporter, called O'Callaghan "one of the most loyal, passionate and compassionate people I have ever known. If he was your friend, he was your friend for life.
"For me he was always there with a word of encouragement or correction. He was a man devoted to causes and people. He was color blind and religion blind. It was just about helping people.
"He hobnobbed with presidents and paupers and never particularly noticed that one was different from the other."
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Linda Lera-Randle El, executive director of Straight From the Streets, a homeless advocacy nonprofit group, remembered the first time O'Callaghan called her offering support. She had grown up in Las Vegas and said her father "always thought Mike O'Callaghan walked on water."
"He called me and said, 'This is Mike O'Callaghan ... I called to talk to you about the homeless. We have to do something to fix this.' "
O'Callaghan provided the homeless with a voice when they had none, she said.
"People look at this population differently because of him," she said. "He set a pace for all of us to keep up with, and I don't know if we will."
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Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, first got to know O'Callaghan when they were both working out at the same athletic club about 20 years ago. Nolan was working as a paramedic and was not yet in politics, but the two often were at the gym at the same time and worked out together.
After four or five months of working out together side-by-side, O'Callaghan one day complained that "this thing is really bothering me" and suddenly pulled off his left leg, Nolan said.
"I didn't realize that he had a wooden leg," Nolan said."I think that was more of a humorous side. I think he was playing with me because I didn't know."
When Nolan entered politics, he said O'Callaghan often supported him even though they were in different parties.
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Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams met O'Callaghan in 1967 and worked on his campaign.
"He was a marvelous man who cared about people," she said. "He had strong opinions, let them be known and he didn't just talk the talk -- he walked it. He had the courage of his convictions."
She recalled one incident over which they had strong opposing views.
"We were screaming at each other, which was not a pretty sight," Williams said of the argument in O'Callaghan's office at the Sun.
"Finally, it was over, and he stood up and said, 'Wait a minute, I'm going to give you some coffee.' He got the coffee and said, 'We've made up, so I'm giving you coffee in my Israeli cup.' "
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Maxine Power, who works as an assistant in Sheriff Bill Young's office, said her memories of O'Callaghan date from her days as a student at Western High School in the 1970s.
"He was governor then and he'd always make time to come in and talk in my government classes," Power said. "Everybody knew him. How could you not?"
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Political consultant Sig Rogich, who would go on to work in Washington during the Reagan administration, managed O'Callaghan's run for a second term as governor in 1974.
"I loved him like I loved my own father," Rogich said.
"He was a great Nevada citizen. He never ever lost sight of the little guy. He just never stopped trying to help people."
He said during the campaign that came through.
"He was such a man of the people that the billboards and the television commercials only had his first name," Rogich said. "The theme was, 'Mike. The people's governor.' That pretty much summed up this wonderful man." Rogich said O'Callaghan was always helping someone. "God, how he championed the little guy," Rogich said. "In all the years I knew him he never asked me for anything for himself, but he would ask me if I could help someone else."
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Ron Coury, a local businessman and president of the Marine Corps Support Council, worked with O'Callaghan for the last 10 years providing services to local Marines.
O'Callaghan served in the Marines, the Army and the Air Force.
The council provides both financial and emotional support to Marine reservists' families, who often struggle when the reservists are called to active duty. They also provide scholarships for teenagers to attend a Marine leadership program called Devil Pups at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"No one was ever in front of Mike when it came time to helping someone, whether it was to write a check or provide his counsel," Coury said. "The guy was just as fierce a patriot as he was a loyal and compassionate friend.
"The first thing that came to mind when I heard (of his death) was that God now has a new chief of staff in heaven."
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